It's hard to decide what's worse about the scandal enveloping the Texas Youth Commission: the chilling accounts of how corrupt state administrators turned an isolated West Texas reform school into their private sex club with adolescent inmates at their beck and call; or the unconscionable cover-up of reports of the abuse and the failure of law enforcement officials to prosecute the perpetrators.

The TYC maintains a system of state schools with the stated aim of educating and reforming hard-core juvenile offenders. The school where the abuses occurred — the West Texas State School at Pyote — houses 250 males between the ages of 10 and 21 in large dormitory facilities.

Despite a damning internal TYC report and an investigation in 2005 by the Texas Rangers, which concluded that two supervisors at the school forced young inmates to have sex with them numerous times, the pair were allowed to resign without criminal prosecution. One went on to head a charter school in San Antonio.

Pyote's superintendent, Chip Harrison, squelched complaints made by other employees at the school that young men were being taken from their beds by the officials for late night sessions behind closed doors. Harrison was later promoted to director of juvenile corrections for the TYC.

Despite receiving the reports of wrongdoing, Ward County District Attorney Randall Reynolds never took the sexual abuse cases to a grand jury. Federal authorities apparently chose not to investigate. Although Gov. Rick Perry's staff learned of the Ranger probe in November, the governor made no announcements and took no action until the story broke.

In a contentious hearing this week, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, blasted TYC officials for maintaining a cover-up and ignoring their responsibilities to protect teenagers in state custody from predatory employees. Whitmire told the Houston Chronicle that "these young men are confined by the state ... and the same people confining and controlling them with the charge to rehabilitate and care for them are actually abusing them."

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was equally forceful in his criticism, calling for the TYC to be put into receivership and its board fired. "I want the problem solved," Dewhurst said. "This is not right."

The Texas Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday recommending that Perry take those steps. So far the governor has replaced TYC board Chairman Pete Alfaro of Baytown with another board member, Don Bethel of Lamesa, but has not committed to receivership.

Perry also recommended that the board hire Ed Owens, deputy director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, as acting TYC director. The previous director, Dwight Harris, resigned last week. The agency is being led by the acting director and former general counsel, Neil Nichols. At the Senate hearing, Nichols provoked gasps when he defended the promotion of former Pyote superintendent Harrison, calling him "one of our most experienced superintendents."

The misconduct at the West Texas State School was not unique in the agency. TYC documents indicate the pattern of employee abuse of inmates, retaliation against whistle-blowers and failure to prosecute was also present in the Brownwood State School.

Whitmire is rightfully skeptical of the measures announced by the governor to deal with the TYC situation. The agency needs a complete overhaul and restructuring.

The far-flung, mostly rural school system should be relocated to urban areas where most of the young, troubled inmates come from and where outside scrutiny is more likely to prevent unrestrained abuse.

Common sense argues that boys between 10 and 13 should not be housed with older youths.

Staff members need more training than the two weeks they receive, and the ratio of students to supervisory personnel is too high.

Law enforcement agencies must resume the investigations of the abusive Pyote staffers, while state lawmakers focus on ways to prevent abuses from being covered up or ignored.