The children were sexually abused and neglected while at The Refuge, a facility located in Bastrop contracted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to a report from a current employee.
The Child Protective Services office at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
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If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can receive confidential help by calling the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s 24/7 toll-free support line at 800-656-4673 or visiting its online hotline.
Employees of a Texas-contracted facility meant to care for female foster children who are victims of sex trafficking were discovered to be trafficking the same children, according to a federal judge.
Seven children, ages 11 to 17, were victimized by nine alleged perpetrators, according to discussions held during an emergency court hearing called by U.S. District Judge Janis Jack on Thursday. The children remained in the facility for over a month after the abuse was first reported before they were removed.
The children were sexually and physically abused and suffered from neglectful supervision and medical neglect while at The Refuge, a facility located in Bastrop contracted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, a current Refuge employee reported to state authorities on Jan. 24. The court and the court monitors — watchdogs of the foster care system appointed by the judge — were not notified until Thursday.
That employee said a former staff member sold nude photos of two children in the facility’s care, using the proceeds to purchase illegal drugs and alcohol that were then supplied to the children, according to a letter from DFPS filed on Thursday notifying the court about the incident. Local law enforcement and the Texas Department of Public Safety were immediately notified, according to the letter.
“Has the governor seen it?” Jack asked, referring to the letter. No one answered.
In a statement Thursday evening, Gov. Greg Abbott said the Texas Rangers will investigate, arrest and pursue charges against any suspects related to the Refuge allegations.
“The reports of child sex trafficking at The Refuge in Bastrop are abhorrent,” Abbott said. “Child abuse of any kind won’t be tolerated in the state of Texas, and we are committed to ensuring these despicable perpetrators are brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
The identities of the suspects have not yet been made public.
Rich Richman, DFPS associate commissioner for child protective investigation, told the court the children weren’t immediately removed from the facility because investigators thought the person responsible had been fired.
However, several staff members were found to be allegedly responsible for the abuse of the children, some of whom were not immediately removed. A suspect has been arrested by law enforcement, and DFPS anticipates further arrests will be made.
Between the first report on Jan. 24 and March 4, DFPS received several additional reports about the staff member who was removed from the facility. However, during the investigation, DFPS “discovered several additional staff members still employed at the operation appeared to be involved, and that many of them were related to one another by blood or marriage and/or were cohabiting,” according to the letter. The operation’s residential care director is now believed to have known about the sexual abuse.
DFPS did not remove all of the children until Wednesday, five weeks after the first documented report of sexual abuse. The department sent Child Protective Services staff and off-duty law enforcement to the facility to “ensure the youth’s safety” a day prior. Eight of the nine children who were in The Refuge at the time have been placed with other facilities that specialize in serving victims of commercial sex trafficking, according to the letter. The remaining child refused to be placed in another facility and DFPS is searching for another placement.
“This is just shocking and shameful. Children are being subjected to terrible abuse in state care, and the agencies say nothing,” Paul Yetter, an attorney who represents foster care children in the federal lawsuit, said in a statement Thursday. “Texas is failing its most basic duty: keep these innocent children safe. And we all know who pays the price. Without the vigilance of the court monitors, and the Judge’s jumping into immediate action, who knows what kind of further abuse would be happening.”
Jack, who is overseeing a decade-old lawsuit against Texas over its foster care system, expressed horror over the discovery during Thursday’s hearing.
The judge blasted DFPS for not immediately removing the children when the allegations of abuse were first reported, calling it yet another failure of the system. Numerousbombshellreports have been released by the court-appointed monitors detailing abuse within the system, neglect and even the deaths of children.
Dozens of facilities contracted by Texas have recently closed down or had their license revoked after racking up numerous offenses and subjecting children to dangerous and damaging environments. Child advocates and the judge have repeatedly criticized Texas officials for failing to ensure facilities are safe for kids in the state’s care. From summer 2019 to May 2021, the court monitors discovered that at least 23 children died in Texas’ long-term foster care system in shelters and facilities licensed by the state.
DFPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The judge instructed the state to provide the court with the identities of the alleged abusers and victims by noon on Friday. She also asked for details on the care the children have received since they were removed.
I am struggling. I read this earlier and got triggered. I have been fighting flash backs since. I tried to lay down to get control but that made it worse. I am getting worse right now, starting to tear up. So while I have a lot of news tabs open and the email machine is full of posts I want to read, I am shutting down both computers. No more videos, no more news, no more stories of Republicans using kids lives and their sexual identities as props to rile up their base and win elections. I am going to take some medications to calm me and make me sleepy, then I am going to turn on my Xbox and play the new Halo. In there I am a powerful here winning the war against the bad guys. Night
10 thoughts on “Kids in foster care who’d been victims of sex trafficking endured fresh abuse at a state shelter, report says”
Be well, Scottie! Enjoy Halo. Bless you for all your hard work. Hey, I think I’m gonna bake some bread tomorrow. Maybe you’ll feel like that, too! Have you ever watched Jenny Can Cook on YouTube? She’s hilarious, and a good human. Have a good weekend.
Hello Ali. The bread sounds great, but we have lots of bread right now. The guys put a big corn beef brisket in the slow cooker, I am not sure if I am having a steak or hot roast beef sandwiches with gravy. I have only one goal other than doing the roundup, and that is restoring James’ knife set. He bought a nice set and the roommates he had destroyed them. I think I can refurbish them. But it will take a couple of hours at least. Ron and James watch cooking shows, I get frustrated and bored by them, and start looking for news. You have a great weekend also.
Also holy s–t. Whenever this sort of thing happens it reminds me of when we had Gov. Brownback, who cut family and social services almost to death and privatized the rest. He’d always say he wanted Kansas to follow in the footsteps of Texas. shudder
Hello Ali. Ya, scary but in the mind of the Republicans profit matters more than people. They seem driven to give the entire government functions / services to private businesses to make a profit regardless of how negatively it impacts the people served. The haves seem to want the have nots to be totally controlled and desperate. They do not see the lower incomes as deserving of anything positive. They do not see the lower incomes as the same quality of human as them. But back to the idea that making a profit off human misery is something I don’t understand. The idea of for-profit prisons and prison slave labor is one example, excessive costs of cheaply made medical drugs is another. But that is because the majority of politicians are owned by the well off upper incomes who want more wealth and do not care about the suffering of the people.
Thanks brother. Restless night but feeling stronger. I was torn up for a while. I was making stupid mistakes in Halo as I couldn’t think right, keep them on the game. But as I said I am doing better today. Thank you. I hope you have a great weekend.
When I went to the DMV yesterday, I was one of about five in a crowded room with a mask. But I remembered what you wrote about your dad and I did not need to get sick. As you know every time I go out around people I catch something. Best wishes brother.
Hello Randy. It is. For me it is the focusing the mind completely on a fast paced goal. Killing the other side before they manage to kill you, find all the goodies, and the real world need not intrude. But as much as I love the game, I cannot play it all the time. There is work to do. The roundup awaits.
Hello Ten Bears. I agree. For profit harming of others. I struggle to understand the concept. As I mentioned to Ali the idea the upper incomes seem to have is the lower incomes are not fully people and do not deserve anything. The upper incomes seem to want the government to only serve them, but to never work for the lower incomes who must be kept poor and desperate so they will accept any low wage and working conditions. The unemployment system in Florida worked great under the Democratic administration. Then Jeb Bush became governor and went on a spree to privatize all government functions including the unemployment department. It was stripped of any assistance to the people to find work, people who worked for the department lost their jobs. The state now paid money to a company who set up a few small places where the people would come in and to a row of computers to try to use them to find work. There was not instructions and no one to assist. The only staff was a security guard to protect the computers. So the people suffered and a company got rich off state money. The Republican way.
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Scottie's Playtime 
Be well, Scottie! Enjoy Halo. Bless you for all your hard work. Hey, I think I’m gonna bake some bread tomorrow. Maybe you’ll feel like that, too! Have you ever watched Jenny Can Cook on YouTube? She’s hilarious, and a good human. Have a good weekend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Ali. The bread sounds great, but we have lots of bread right now. The guys put a big corn beef brisket in the slow cooker, I am not sure if I am having a steak or hot roast beef sandwiches with gravy. I have only one goal other than doing the roundup, and that is restoring James’ knife set. He bought a nice set and the roommates he had destroyed them. I think I can refurbish them. But it will take a couple of hours at least. Ron and James watch cooking shows, I get frustrated and bored by them, and start looking for news. You have a great weekend also.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Also holy s–t. Whenever this sort of thing happens it reminds me of when we had Gov. Brownback, who cut family and social services almost to death and privatized the rest. He’d always say he wanted Kansas to follow in the footsteps of Texas. shudder
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Ali. Ya, scary but in the mind of the Republicans profit matters more than people. They seem driven to give the entire government functions / services to private businesses to make a profit regardless of how negatively it impacts the people served. The haves seem to want the have nots to be totally controlled and desperate. They do not see the lower incomes as deserving of anything positive. They do not see the lower incomes as the same quality of human as them. But back to the idea that making a profit off human misery is something I don’t understand. The idea of for-profit prisons and prison slave labor is one example, excessive costs of cheaply made medical drugs is another. But that is because the majority of politicians are owned by the well off upper incomes who want more wealth and do not care about the suffering of the people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Big Hug.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks brother. Restless night but feeling stronger. I was torn up for a while. I was making stupid mistakes in Halo as I couldn’t think right, keep them on the game. But as I said I am doing better today. Thank you. I hope you have a great weekend.
When I went to the DMV yesterday, I was one of about five in a crowded room with a mask. But I remembered what you wrote about your dad and I did not need to get sick. As you know every time I go out around people I catch something. Best wishes brother.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can imagine that would be a very cathartic response to dealing with all things republican.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hello Randy. It is. For me it is the focusing the mind completely on a fast paced goal. Killing the other side before they manage to kill you, find all the goodies, and the real world need not intrude. But as much as I love the game, I cannot play it all the time. There is work to do. The roundup awaits.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m starting to think they really are lizards …
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hello Ten Bears. I agree. For profit harming of others. I struggle to understand the concept. As I mentioned to Ali the idea the upper incomes seem to have is the lower incomes are not fully people and do not deserve anything. The upper incomes seem to want the government to only serve them, but to never work for the lower incomes who must be kept poor and desperate so they will accept any low wage and working conditions. The unemployment system in Florida worked great under the Democratic administration. Then Jeb Bush became governor and went on a spree to privatize all government functions including the unemployment department. It was stripped of any assistance to the people to find work, people who worked for the department lost their jobs. The state now paid money to a company who set up a few small places where the people would come in and to a row of computers to try to use them to find work. There was not instructions and no one to assist. The only staff was a security guard to protect the computers. So the people suffered and a company got rich off state money. The Republican way.
LikeLiked by 1 person