Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The furor over sex abuse of troubled offenders in the Texas Youth Commission has focused on a single facility in far West Texas.

But it wasn't the only case.

Nearly 250 miles away, at about the same time, another set of juveniles apparently was falling victim to another sexual predator working in the system.

The sexual abuse took place in a supply closet of a dorm over many months in a state-run juvenile jail known as the Brownwood State School in Brownwood, according to internal commission documents obtained by the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle.

The purported predator was a correctional officer and his victims were wayward teens.

Superiors were alerted to the alleged problem but the staff member who reported her suspicions said she was subject to retaliation, the documents say.

The case sounds similar to one where male youths were sexually assaulted that at the now-notorious West Texas State School in the tiny town of Pyote between 2003 and 2005, according to the Texas Rangers.

But the Brownwood case involved a male correctional officer and four female victims, including a 16-year-old San Antonio girl, according to the documents.

The documents emerged as elected leaders, embarrassed and horrified by the West Texas accounts, vowed to clean up a system for youthful offenders abused by staff members.

On Thursday, the agency's board appointed a new interim executive director, Ed Owens, who was second in command of the state's adult prison system.

At the same time, legislative leaders met privately with Gov. Rick Perry to discuss the crisis. Perry has been pushing to reform the agency within its current structure, while the state Senate wants a conservator hired for oversight.

The reported abuse at both schools followed a disturbing pattern in which complaints by staff members were met with apparent retaliation and where alleged perpetrators were not criminally charged by outside authorities. Indeed, in both cases, as the evidence against them mounted, the alleged perpetrators were allowed to resign — rather than be fired.

Randal R. Chance, a retired inspector general for the commission, said he was glad problems finally were being exposed.

"West Texas is just the tip," said Chance, who in 2003 detailed alleged abuses at the agency in a book, "Raped By the State." "There are a whole lot of sexual scandals at TYC."

He said people within the agency have been talking for years about sexual abuse of teens at Brownwood. "But administrators don't want the public to know about it," he said. "It's pretty well covered up."

Lee Preston, clinical director for the Rape Crisis Center for Children and Adults in San Antonio, said allegations of sexual abuse are particularly disturbing given the targets.

"When a child is placed (at a juvenile facility) because of aggression or other issues and is abused there ... they come out not trusting anyone. They say to themselves, 'I should be able to be safe here.' If they're not, they come out with their dukes up, ready to fight," Preston said.

Abuse allegations

According to TYC documents, the girl quickly came to the attention of a correctional officer assigned to Freedom and who had been with the agency since 1998. The guard began giving the girl special treatment, like extra food, phone privileges, and "upper and downer pills," the girl told investigators.

His accuser said he would "flirt with her and tell her she was sexy."

She said he began touching her in the library, according to her account.

The girl told authorities she didn't find the officer attractive — but she liked the privileges.

"Basically, it was a favor for favor, so I did it to satisfy his need," the girl told authorities.

The girl said the two had sex at least 10 times in a supply closet during shower time, when the guard instructed staff to stay away.

The officer had been investigated by the agency earlier for having sexual relationships with two other girls at Freedom but those cases were labeled "unconfirmed" and closed.

LaQuette Day, a correctional officer also assigned to Freedom, became alarmed by the amount of time the other officer was spending with the San Antonio teen, according to the TYC report. Day reported her concerns to a supervisor, who relayed it to the school's superintendent, Daniel P. Humeniuk, who since has retired. He reportedly ordered a more senior correctional officer named Wanda Drew to investigate.

The agency found no evidence the officer acted improperly, according to the documents.

Day then reported that her work environment became suddenly hostile.

She told agency investigators Drew screamed at her on at least two occasions and demanded to know what she would report to the inspector general when he paid her a visit. Eventually, Day was transferred to another dorm. TYC documents show Drew was one of the investigators on the case.

Drew, denied by phone Thursday that she was charged with investigating the matter or that she retaliated against Day, who Drew described as a disgruntled former employee.

Agency officials said Day had been dismissed in 2005 for an unrelated matter.

"I didn't stay at TYC for 18 years because I covered up abuse and neglect cases," she said.

The San Antonio teen, who initially denied sexual contact with the officer, left Brownwood in spring 2004. A year later, while being transferred to another jail, she reported that she indeed had had a sexual relationship with the officer at Brownwood. Another case was opened, and this time, the agency substantiated the abuse.

The agency also confirmed the officer sexually abused three other girls.

The officer's case was referred to the local authorities, but no charges were filed. The district attorney for Brown County said Brownwood police didn't send a case.

"My understanding is that they're working on it," District Attorney Michael Brandon Murray said.

The Brownwood chief did not return a call for comment.

In a hearing earlier this week, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, expressed the fear that the issue would continue to grow.

"You know what scares me the most?" he asked. "What I don't know."