TYC report was altered

Information highlighted Austin officials' inaction on molestation.

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

An internal report detailing how a sexual molestation scandal went undetected for more than a year in the Texas Youth Commission was altered, to delete references that top agency officials were alerted to the abuse but did nothing to stop it, a previously secret document showed Thursday.

It was not immediately clear who sanitized the final version, when it was done, or on whose orders.

But a copy of the original draft obtained by the American-Statesman contained four extra paragraphs confirming that an Austin security coordinator had repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sounded alarms to several top officials in early 2005. The report delved into why it took well over a year to confirm an avalanche of allegations that an assistant superintendent and a principal at the West Texas State School in the remote hamlet of Pyote were victimizing teenage boys incarcerated there.

Even now, almost two years after the abuses were confirmed, no one has been prosecuted.

Public revelations about the long-suppressed case have triggered a firestorm of criticism in recent days, including a unanimous Senate vote late Tuesday to place the agency in conservatorship, which probably would lead to a gutting of TYC leadership.

Other developments Thursday:

•Seeking to deflect a push by legislative leaders for a forced management takeover, the Youth Commission's governing board, during an emergency telephone meeting, approved the hiring of Ed Owens, a top official of the state's adult prison system, as interim director.

•Unsatisfied, legislative leaders tentatively announced a special meeting of the Legislative Audit Committee today to discuss proceeding with a recommendation for conservatorship.

•Youth Commission officials confirmed for the first time that at least 10 teenage boys were victimized at the West Texas lockup, many more than originally thought. Of those, seven have been discharged, two remain in Youth Commission lockups — one at West Texas — and one is in an adult jail on a capital murder charge.

•Aides to Gov. Rick Perry confirmed that Austin officials, angry that no one has been prosecuted, are researching possible sanctions against Ward County District Attorney Randall Reynolds or a change in state law to prevent stalled investigations in the future. Reynolds wrote to the state attorney general in January, saying that he is a "one attorney office with limited resources and manpower" that is not able to prosecute a case that could involve "the conduct of the Texas Youth Commission." Based on the letter, Attorney General Greg Abbott assigned a special prosecutor.

Deleted from the sanitized internal investigation review were all references to a statement by Melody Vidaurri, who at the time was the security coordinator at TYC's Austin headquarters.

In the statement, she related how "numerous students and staff reported concerns" about an assistant superintendent having sex with students. She reported those allegations to Lydia Barnard, at the time the chief of juvenile corrections, and Chester Clay, the agency's executive director.

"Ms. Barnard informed her that these allegations had already been investigated and there was nothing to it," the original report states. Uncomfortable with that answer "because there were too many allegations," Vidaurri asked for a meeting with Clay and Barnard, according to the original report.

She heard nothing, it states.

Vidaurri then forwarded a formal complaint — including specific allegations from inmates and staff members — to the agency's inspector general, Ray Worsham. According to the original report, Vidaurri "did not hear anything else until Texas Ranger (Sgt.) Brian Burzynski showed up in her office on June 10, 2005."

Youth Commission officials earlier confirmed the internal report was completed in June or July 2005. At a Senate hearing Tuesday, the sanitized version was released as the complete report.

Tish Elliott-Wilkins, the investigator who wrote the report, declined comment Thursday, citing agency policy. Youth Commission officials also did not comment.

A receptionist repeatedly said that agency spokesman Tim Savoy and other officials were in meetings.

Burzynski, the Texas Ranger, was not available for comment, but in an e-mail response this week to a legislative aide, he wrote, "TYC in Austin did change the report and they apparently took out all of the information in the report implicating the higher ups in Austin. Now they have to report to Senators and they want to make it look like they didn't change these reports."

Thursday's revelation of the two versions of the report added fuel to Senate charges that top officials at the agency have orchestrated a cover-up, an allegation those officials have strenuously denied.

Shown the two reports late Thursday, a key senator blew up. "I am angry I was given a document that was not the original, but was cleansed at some point by the agency to prevent us from knowing the truth," said Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston. "This confirms my highest concerns. What else don't we know about this agency, about what's going on out there?"

mward@statesman.com