Abbott orders Rangers into youth lockups in sex-assault investigation

AUSTIN -- In a surprise move, Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday dispatched the Texas Rangers to conduct a "detailed investigation" into growing allegations of sexual misconduct in state-run lockups for teenaged lawbreakers.

In a one-page letter, Abbott directed Steve Craw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety to send Rangers into the five-unit state system to investigate and "ensure that these acts are dealt with swiftly and to the fullest extent of the law."

A copy of the letter was obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

While investigators at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department have probed a growing list of allegations that staff members at the Gainesville State School and other lockups  engaged in improper relationships with incarcerated youths, Abbott said that "additional action is needed to guarantee the protection of the youth in the care and custody of the State of Texas."

Abbott's move came after the Houston Chronicle and other media outlets detailed new allegations of sexual misconduct in the state's lockups, reminiscent of a 2007 scandal over abuse and an official cover-up that sparked sweeping reforms and a top-to-bottom shakeup in the management of the youth corrections agency.

While officials at the juvenile agency had no immediate comment on the Rangers' investigation, the development was widely seen as a first step toward a rumored shakeup that is planned to immediately step up security at the lockups.

On Tuesday, the agency's governing board hired Camille Cain, Abbott's criminal justice director, as the new executive director. In a letter to Cain, the governor directed her to ensure the safety of  incarcerated youths as a first priority.

"These egregious acts must be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law," Abbott said, recommending that Cain begin work to reduce the population of the state's juvenile lockups downward from 1,000 to a more managemeable number.

Agency officials, who have said they do not have enough staff to properly supervise the youth in their custody, have said that as many as  500 of the 1,000 could be better housed in community-based programs rather than a remotely located state facility.

The state lockups have been plagued for years with violence, gang activity, staffing shortages and lack of programming that has been blamed for a high recidivism rate.

Last week, members of the Senate Finance Committee blasted agency officials for not better protecting incarcerated youths and had demanded swift action to stop the problems.

As a result of the problems, four Texas civil rights and youth-justice reform groups in late November called for state officials to close all of its remaining juvenile-justice lockups and replace them with community-based treatment and rehabilitation centers.

If that happens, the recommendations would take the Texas Juvenile Justice Department out of the business of incarcerating youths in remote state-run lockups for the first time in years.
Texas' juvenile justice system grew from a network of orphanages and work farms into training centers that gradually became secure facilities across the state.

Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who has been critical of the agency's lack of supervision at its lockups, applauded Abbott's decision.

"It's exactly the type of intervention we need to get control of these facilities," he said. "They are being run by the bullies and the gangs, and the employees are working in an environment of fear."

Mike Ward covers state government and politics, including the executive branch, criminal justice and ethics issues, in the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau. Send him tips at mike.ward@chron.com and follow him on Twitter @ChronicleMike.