Public MigraWatch List Syndication: [migrawatch-public] Children claim repeated sex abuse]

Children claim repeated sex abuse

Web Posted: 02/15/2008 10:58 PM CST
Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer Nine immigrant children were repeatedly sexually molested and beaten last year while housed in a government-operated youth detention center near San Antonio, and their cries for help were covered up by administrators and state and federal officials, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

Texas Sheltered Care in Nixon was among about three dozen facilities across the country run by private firms under government contract to temporarily house unaccompanied immigrant minors caught trying to cross the border.

The Nixon center, 55 miles east of San Antonio, was shuttered nearly a year ago after allegations of sexual abuse first surfaced. An investigation initiated by the FBI but later punted to the Gonzales County Sheriff's Department resulted in the prosecution and conviction of a guard, Belinda Leal, who was sentenced in September to seven years in prison.

But the children, all Central Americans, and their advocates now say in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Antonio that the maltreatment was much graver than Leal's actions. It accuses two other guards of sexual and physical cruelty and says they engaged in a cover-up with their bosses and state and federal officials.

Contacted for their response to the suit, some officials declined to comment, saying they had not yet seen the document. Others didn't return messages.

"These children are the most vulnerable and easily exploitable immigrants," said José Garza, a lawyer for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in San Antonio, who is leading the case. "The government has shown a complete disregard for their safety and well-being, and that's shameful."

The lawsuit alleges several of the children — identified only by their initials because they're minors — were repeatedly fondled by Leal, while others were forced to grope her and perform oral sex on her..

The suit accused two other guards — one identified as Efraen García, the other unnamed — of beating the minors. On one occasion, according to the suit, García in a drunken rage attacked a boy, throwing him against a door and walls.

The suit cites a 16-year-old Honduran as the "whistleblower" in the case. After rejecting Leal's sexual advances, the boy reported her to the center's top administrators, the suit says.

But instead of supporting him, the administrators retaliated, causing him to attempt suicide before he was transferred to more restrictive youth centers in other states while his deportation case played out in immigration court.

The lawsuit claims officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of all the shelters, decided to transfer him out of state as punishment and to cover up the problem.

Upon his return, they and other government officials arranged to lock him up in the Guadalupe County Jail, the suit alleges, before finally transferring him to the Abraxas Hector Garza Center in San Antonio, which HHS quietly opened in August as a restrictive center.

The city is host to another center for minor immigrant detainees on the West Side, run by Baptist Child & Family Services.

Other Nixon children also said they endured similar wrath for trying to report abuse, including being kept without food and forced to sleep on the floor, the lawsuit says. One also said he was kept in an adult immigration detention center, though he was 15, before being sent to Nixon.

All the minors said that, even after asking, they were deprived of mental, medical and dental care after their complaints. Also, they alleged, in many cases officials purposely cut communication with their lawyers, who complained about the transfer of their clients to centers in other states, such as Michigan, without notice.

The move prompted Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to dispatch a lawyer across the country to track them down to interview them.

Besides administrators at Nixon and HHS officials in Washington and South Texas, the suit accuses state officials of negligence. Specifically named are Carey Cockerell, Dianna Spiser and Joyce James, the top bosses at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

As the licensing agent, TDFPS didn't appropriately monitor the Nixon center and failed to properly investigate and act on the abuse allegations, such as revoking its license, the lawsuit says.

It says the level of disregard also put the center in violation of the Flores Agreement, a long-standing court settlement under which the government committed to maintain certain detention standards for immigrant minors.

In a related but separate federal lawsuit filed in San Antonio in September, two of the boys accused Guadalupe County Sheriff Glen Schtleben of purposely leaving them in a legal lurch by refusing to provide a written statement confirming their help in his investigation of Leal.

Such statements would allow unaccompanied minors to apply for immigration visas letting them remain in the country legally and eventually obtain permanent residence.

Garza, the legal aid lawyer who also headed this case, said a tentative agreement was reached this week: The suit would be dropped in exchange for the sheriff signing the cooperation statements.

No virus found in this incoming message.
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Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.7/1283 - Release Date: 2/16/2008 2:16 P Children claim repeated sex abuse

Web Posted: 02/15/2008 10:58 PM CST
Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer Nine immigrant children were repeatedly sexually molested and beaten last year while housed in a government-operated youth detention center near San Antonio, and their cries for help were covered up by administrators and state and federal officials, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

Texas Sheltered Care in Nixon was among about three dozen facilities across the country run by private firms under government contract to temporarily house unaccompanied immigrant minors caught trying to cross the border.

The Nixon center, 55 miles east of San Antonio, was shuttered nearly a year ago after allegations of sexual abuse first surfaced. An investigation initiated by the FBI but later punted to the Gonzales County Sheriff's Department resulted in the prosecution and conviction of a guard, Belinda Leal, who was sentenced in September to seven years in prison.

But the children, all Central Americans, and their advocates now say in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Antonio that the maltreatment was much graver than Leal's actions. It accuses two other guards of sexual and physical cruelty and says they engaged in a cover-up with their bosses and state and federal officials.

Contacted for their response to the suit, some officials declined to comment, saying they had not yet seen the document. Others didn't return messages.

"These children are the most vulnerable and easily exploitable immigrants," said José Garza, a lawyer for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in San Antonio, who is leading the case. "The government has shown a complete disregard for their safety and well-being, and that's shameful."

The lawsuit alleges several of the children — identified only by their initials because they're minors — were repeatedly fondled by Leal, while others were forced to grope her and perform oral sex on her..

The suit accused two other guards — one identified as Efraen García, the other unnamed — of beating the minors. On one occasion, according to the suit, García in a drunken rage attacked a boy, throwing him against a door and walls.

The suit cites a 16-year-old Honduran as the "whistleblower" in the case. After rejecting Leal's sexual advances, the boy reported her to the center's top administrators, the suit says.

But instead of supporting him, the administrators retaliated, causing him to attempt suicide before he was transferred to more restrictive youth centers in other states while his deportation case played out in immigration court.

The lawsuit claims officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of all the shelters, decided to transfer him out of state as punishment and to cover up the problem.

Upon his return, they and other government officials arranged to lock him up in the Guadalupe County Jail, the suit alleges, before finally transferring him to the Abraxas Hector Garza Center in San Antonio, which HHS quietly opened in August as a restrictive center.

The city is host to another center for minor immigrant detainees on the West Side, run by Baptist Child & Family Services.

Other Nixon children also said they endured similar wrath for trying to report abuse, including being kept without food and forced to sleep on the floor, the lawsuit says. One also said he was kept in an adult immigration detention center, though he was 15, before being sent to Nixon.

All the minors said that, even after asking, they were deprived of mental, medical and dental care after their complaints. Also, they alleged, in many cases officials purposely cut communication with their lawyers, who complained about the transfer of their clients to centers in other states, such as Michigan, without notice.

The move prompted Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to dispatch a lawyer across the country to track them down to interview them.

Besides administrators at Nixon and HHS officials in Washington and South Texas, the suit accuses state officials of negligence. Specifically named are Carey Cockerell, Dianna Spiser and Joyce James, the top bosses at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

As the licensing agent, TDFPS didn't appropriately monitor the Nixon center and failed to properly investigate and act on the abuse allegations, such as revoking its license, the lawsuit says.

It says the level of disregard also put the center in violation of the Flores Agreement, a long-standing court settlement under which the government committed to maintain certain detention standards for immigrant minors.

In a related but separate federal lawsuit filed in San Antonio in September, two of the boys accused Guadalupe County Sheriff Glen Schtleben of purposely leaving them in a legal lurch by refusing to provide a written statement confirming their help in his investigation of Leal.

Such statements would allow unaccompanied minors to apply for immigration visas letting them remain in the country legally and eventually obtain permanent residence.

Garza, the legal aid lawyer who also headed this case, said a tentative agreement was reached this week: The suit would be dropped in exchange for the sheriff signing the cooperation statements.

__._,_.___

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__,_._,___ Children claim repeated sex abuse

Web Posted: 02/15/2008 10:58 PM CST
Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer Nine immigrant children were repeatedly
sexually molested and beaten last year while housed in a
government-operated youth detention center near San Antonio, and their
cries for help were covered up by administrators and state and federal
officials, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

Texas Sheltered Care in Nixon was among about three dozen facilities across
the country run by private firms under government contract to temporarily
house unaccompanied immigrant minors caught trying to cross the border.

The Nixon center, 55 miles east of San Antonio, was shuttered nearly a year
ago after allegations of sexual abuse first surfaced. An investigation
initiated by the FBI but later punted to the Gonzales County Sheriff's
Department resulted in the prosecution and conviction of a guard, Belinda
Leal, who was sentenced in September to seven years in prison.

But the children, all Central Americans, and their advocates now say in a
lawsuit filed in federal court in San Antonio that the maltreatment was much
graver than Leal's actions. It accuses two other guards of sexual and
physical cruelty and says they engaged in a cover-up with their bosses and
state and federal officials.

Contacted for their response to the suit, some officials declined to
comment, saying they had not yet seen the document. Others didn't return
messages.

"These children are the most vulnerable and easily exploitable immigrants,"
said José Garza, a lawyer for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in San Antonio, who
is leading the case. "The government has shown a complete disregard for
their safety and well-being, and that's shameful."

The lawsuit alleges several of the children &lsqauo; identified only by their
initials because they're minors &lsqauo; were repeatedly fondled by Leal, while
others were forced to grope her and perform oral sex on her.

The suit accused two other guards &lsqauo; one identified as Efraen García, the
other unnamed &lsqauo; of beating the minors. On one occasion, according to the
suit, García in a drunken rage attacked a boy, throwing him against a door
and walls.

The suit cites a 16-year-old Honduran as the "whistleblower" in the case.
After rejecting Leal's sexual advances, the boy reported her to the center's
top administrators, the suit says.

But instead of supporting him, the administrators retaliated, causing him
to attempt suicide before he was transferred to more restrictive youth
centers in other states while his deportation case played out in immigration
court.

The lawsuit claims officials at the Department of Health and Human
Services, which is in charge of all the shelters, decided to transfer him
out of state as punishment and to cover up the problem.

Upon his return, they and other government officials arranged to lock him
up in the Guadalupe County Jail, the suit alleges, before finally
transferring him to the Abraxas Hector Garza Center in San Antonio, which
HHS quietly opened in August as a restrictive center.

The city is host to another center for minor immigrant detainees on the
West Side, run by Baptist Child & Family Services.

Other Nixon children also said they endured similar wrath for trying to
report abuse, including being kept without food and forced to sleep on the
floor, the lawsuit says. One also said he was kept in an adult immigration
detention center, though he was 15, before being sent to Nixon.

All the minors said that, even after asking, they were deprived of mental,
medical and dental care after their complaints. Also, they alleged, in many
cases officials purposely cut communication with their lawyers, who
complained about the transfer of their clients to centers in other states,
such as Michigan, without notice.

The move prompted Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to dispatch a lawyer across the
country to track them down to interview them.

Besides administrators at Nixon and HHS officials in Washington and South
Texas, the suit accuses state officials of negligence. Specifically named
are Carey Cockerell, Dianna Spiser and Joyce James, the top bosses at the
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

As the licensing agent, TDFPS didn't appropriately monitor the Nixon center
and failed to properly investigate and act on the abuse allegations, such
as revoking its license, the lawsuit says.

It says the level of disregard also put the center in violation of the
Flores Agreement, a long-standing court settlement under which the
government committed to maintain certain detention standards for immigrant
minors.

In a related but separate federal lawsuit filed in San Antonio in
September, two of the boys accused Guadalupe County Sheriff Glen Schtleben
of purposely leaving them in a legal lurch by refusing to provide a written
statement confirming their help in his investigation of Leal.

Such statements would allow unaccompanied minors to apply for immigration
visas letting them remain in the country legally and eventually obtain
permanent residence.

Garza, the legal aid lawyer who also headed this case, said a tentative
agreement was reached this week: The suit would be dropped in exchange for
the sheriff signing the cooperation statements.

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.7/1283 - Release Date: 2/16/2008
2:16 P Children claim repeated sex abuse