Profoundly disabled young men were forced into Fight Club-style battles by the people hired to care for them in a Texas residential facility, police said.

The staged battles - which appear to have been going on for at least two years - were discovered when police reviewed the video on a cell phone camera found lying on a road.

"It's some of the worst child abuse I've seen in over 30 years," Corpus Christi police Captain Tim Wilson said.

"Sometimes we see isolated incidents. What's appalling about this is that it appears to be organised."

The video footage showed staffers provoking the young men until they became physically violent, then shoving them at each other to make sure they fought.

The mentally and physically disabled residents pushed, punched and kicked each other and then had their arms raised in victory when they were declared the winner, Captain Wilson said.

They suffered only minor injuries.

Eleven current or former employees of the Corpus Christi State School were identified in the videos, which were discovered last week.

Captain Wilson said he expects to file charges soon.

The Texas legislature is currently debating how to reform state-run institutions for the disabled after the system came under fire by the US Department of Justice because of systemic abuse and widespread civil rights violations.

An emergency bill was approved on Monday to protect residents from mistreatment.

"Once again, our community is faced with the possibility of abuse and neglect involving residents and staff at the Corpus Christi State School," said state representative Abel Herrero, whose district includes the state school.

The incident "further escalates the urgency for reform measures within the state school system and at our campus".

- AFP