A nearly three-year federal investigation into Texas juvenile detention centers operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department found that five facilities have violated children's constitutional and civil rights, part of an ongoing pattern of abuse and violations that dates back decades, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.
The Justice Department discovered that the detention centers, which house children as young as 10 who are guilty of adult crimes, violated their Eighth and 14th Amendment rights, as well as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Americans with Disabilities Act, a report from the federal department says.
Texas juvenile detention centers have a decadeslong history of violations and abuses, which began to be uncovered in the early 2000s by Texas newspapers. The findings — which high-ranking staff tried to cover up — led the entire system to be overhauled and be placed in a governor-ordered guardianship, the report says. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas Rangers investigations into the facilities in 2017 and 2021. The investigations led to the arrests of several employees for physical and sexual abuse. Advocacy groups pleaded with the Justice Department to launch a more thorough investigation, which it did toward the end of 2021.
In a statement provided to news outlets, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department said it has a "zero-tolerance policy toward abuse and neglect," pointing a finger at its prolonged and "unprecedented" staffing crisis. It noted the 2023 legislative session provided the resources to improve its staffing shortage, mental health care and educational programs, the statement says.
“We are grateful to the Department of Justice for their thorough investigation and detailed findings," Brett Merfish, director of youth justice at the advocacy organization Texas Appleseed, said in a statement to media. "The issues their investigation identified are systemic problems that have plagued the Texas Juvenile Justice Department for years. We are hopeful this will be a turning point for youth in these facilities."
Department of Justice investigation
Investigators visited the five facilities in person at least twice. They found staff members used "excessive force and prolonged isolation," failed to prevent and protect children from sexual abuse from staff and other children, and did not provide adequate mental health services, the report says.
They also found evidence that staffers had discriminated against children with disabilities by denying them "reasonable modifications to complete programs required for their release," as well as an equal opportunity to education, the report says. Delays in completing programs often lead them to continue their sentence in prison after aging out of juvenile centers. The abuse and neglect have long-lasting effects on an already vulnerable population and have even led to the conviction of some employees for violent crimes, the report says.
Detention center staff use pepper spray "far more frequently than necessary," discharging the canisters of irritating spray directly into children's faces "at very close range and for excessive lengths of time," the report says. Investigators found evidence that multiple staff members will spray a single child, causing the child to become physically sick and immobilized.
Physical assaults by staffers on children held at the centers resulted in concussions, lacerations and loss of consciousness, the investigation found. Two unidentified staff members were offered a plea deal for their charge of official oppression after slamming a child’s head into a brick pillar and spitting on him as he was dragged away to solitary confinement. Some children spent days or weeks at a time inside solitary confinement, leading to suicidal ideation, the report says.
In a Bureau of Justice Statistics 2019 report, nearly 20% of children at two different detention centers reported being sexually abused. Investigators found evidence of grooming and predatory behavior, and that staffers' body-worn cameras were often turned off during instances of sexual abuse. Some staffers used sexually explicit language and made sexual threats toward children, the report says.
The federal report determined the juvenile justice department ignored and disregarded the ongoing abuse, despite multiple investigations by state and federal authorities.
The inquiry also found that educational resources are minimal to nonexistent for children with disabilities, especially given that 40% of children with disabilities at detention centers read below a third grade level and more than half of children with disabilities read below the fifth grade level, despite being high-school aged, the report says. They also failed to provide psychological counseling and speech-language pathology services.
“The conditions in the facilities are unacceptable. Tragically, this is not the first investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at TJJD facilities," said Alamdar S. Hamdani, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas. "Working with Texas’s other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Civil Rights Division and the State of Texas, my office hopes to provide protections to the vulnerable and help right wrongs that have existed for far too long.”
