Dozens arrested still caring for disabled
HOUSTON
Of those, 17 had felony convictions and 19 still face trial, the
Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday, citing records from the Texas
Department of Aging and Disability Services.
Legislators on Tuesday were scheduled to discuss improvements at
state facilities for the mentally disabled in the year since
shocking cell phone video surfaced of forced fights between
residents.
The so-called "fight club" at what was known as the Corpus
Christi State School led to increased security and overview of such
facilities.
The latest plea in the case was entered on March 10. Former
worker Guadalupe Delarosa Jr., 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of
injury to the disabled and was sentenced to four years in prison.
The release of the records, first requested six weeks ago by the
Chronicle, came as legislators consider what changes have been made
to Texas' 13 state-supported living centers.
A spokeswoman for state Rep. Patrick Rose of Dripping Springs,
chairman of the House Committee on Human Services, said he would
not comment before the meeting Tuesday.
The latest reform shows how pre-employment criminal background
screens failed to alert the state to employees with criminal
records, according to the newspaper.
Of the 17 employees with convictions, 13 have been terminated or
resigned. The other four are still in "process" according to the
agency, which released the numbers without comment.
"Of course it still matters. That amount of people has control
over a handful of residents who are unable to communicate abuse or
neglect or ward off that type of aggression," said Beth Mitchell,
senior managing attorney for Advocacy Inc., a group that has fought
for better care of the mentally disabled in Texas. "You don't want
someone like that corrupting other staff. That's what we saw in
Corpus Christi. It only took one staff to corrupt a group of staff
in the fight club."
