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| ISBN-13: | 9781481713795 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 05/20/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 324 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
Read an Excerpt
CARNAL SOCIETY
The Texas-National Sex Scandal
By Randal R. Chance
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2013 Randal R. ChanceAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4817-1381-8
CHAPTER 1
Inception
"That was his ticket to hell!" —The tearful comments made to me by the mother of a young son who had just been sentenced to confinement in the Texas Criminal Justice System
My adventure with the Texas Criminal Justice System began in June of 1982. I completed a twenty-one-year career with the United States Air Force, where I worked mainly in law enforcement, and I worked with many young people. After retiring as a law enforcement superintendent and traveling all over the United States and much of the world, my wife and I were ready for a little more stable lifestyle to raise our two children.
I interviewed for a position at the West Texas Children's Home (WTCH), in Pyote (pronounced "pie-oat"), Texas, and was accepted for the job. Little did I imagine all of the confusion, frustration, ill leadership, and abuse of the youth of Texas that I would come to see during the next twenty years! I had never seen employees and clients treated so miserably as what I was about to witness. I failed to realize what a juggernaut was until I had seen the monster in person and worked within its entrails for several years. Amazingly, I have survived thus far without catching the stench and being crushed by this deformity of wickedness that has surrounded me. Over a long period, I found why the management of the commission lives in Shangri-La, and why team players are betrothed to each other. The real entrails of the agency can make one shiver, whereas the condiments exposed smell of a rotten carp.
I was assigned by H. B., the campus youth supervisor, to work with the youths in a dorm. I soon found out that I would not be working with discarded or neglected youth, but rather a combination of the meanest, undisciplined, violent youth from all over the state. Many of these youth were dumped on the state by uncaring families, and by judges and parole officers who were fed up with dealing with the youth in their communities. Much of the behavior of the youth had been created by a combination of flaws made by society itself. Many families were afraid to discipline their children for fear of the over-reaction by some to spanking and to public corrections by parents. On the other hand, there were parents that went to extremes and beat their children. There were many lost children who didn't know who their fathers were, and some of their mothers were locked up in state correctional facilities. Some simply just did not have a future to look forward to. I remember it was gratifying when I saw a young man or woman leave for his or her home, and I felt perhaps I had helped in some way to straighten out his or her life.
The statistics indicate that most of these youth will become responsible citizens as they progress through life and adapt to reasonable behavior. There are always a few that would waste their lives and continue through life with the adult criminals of other institutions. We heard periodically where our released youth would murder someone or be murdered—but we also heard of the ones who did well with their lives.
We have an abundance of youth today who were fathered by men who thought that the more females they could make pregnant, the better; then they let society take care of the misguided and disturbed youth that were produced. It seemed the more children some families had, the more money the state would pay them. No one seemed to realize the youth couldn't be cared for properly, or even sent to school in some cases. It's really disheartening to read some of the writings made by these youth. Many are severely undereducated, and they write and spell just like they talk, which is poorly. Many educated people cannot understand their writing. One develops the means to read and understand their writing after one has read thousands of their complaints.
A career working with youth is very rewarding, but it is also full of frustrations because of circumstances one can't control. I have heard hundreds of staff over the years comment that the problems are not so much the youth, because they expect their behavior; it's the problems created by the staffs who supervise the youth, and by the administrators who manage the programs. There are many misguided, irresponsible, and corrupt staffs that are in charge of the programs administered by other irresponsible, incompetent supervisors. Many of the problems throughout the state are created by these staff. Many employees joke that they don't have time to work with youth anymore because their time is taken up by inadequately trained staff who abuse the youth on a daily basis. Sometimes this poor behavior is through ignorance, and other times it's through planned misbehavior to mistreat the youth of Texas.
CHAPTER 2
Calm Before the Storm
After being a caseworker for several months and observing the mass confusion of the programs and management, I decided to pursue another less stressful occupation. I had been in the military for twenty years, so I was being used to programs that made some sense and were managed by professional, trained people. I was having a difficult time understanding the commission's senseless programs and mindless leadership.
The US Marshals Service contacted me and asked if I was interested in becoming an air marshal. They were interested in ex-military personnel with law enforcement experience. These secretly armed people fly as regular passengers on major airline flights. There had been numerous hijackers that took control of flights, many of which then flew to Cuba. It seemed an interesting undertaking; however, I had already flown over much of the world and didn't desire more flight time. There are even more of these marshals after the 9-11 attack on the United States.
Just before I was about the resign my position, H. R., the assistant superintendent, offered me the job of director of security. He knew my background and felt I was the best suited to manage that program. If he had not offered me that job, I would have left the TYC for a more reasonable career. During the next twenty years, I watched TYC improve and then jump backward in its programs to correct and supervise the youth of Texas. I was beginning to adjust some after the initial shock that I endured, when I'd first seen the strange management styles of the agency and the odd youth it served. We were getting a different type of youth in our institutions—but the same abusive, predator staff were being hired to watch the youth and be role models for their future. The atmosphere in TYC programs attracts people who want to have inappropriate relationships with youths who are locked up. Many have sex with the youth or furnish drugs and other contraband; some take the opportunity to lie, cheat, and undermine the youth and their progress. Others just like the excitement of being able to physically abuse the youth.
Much of the abuse and mistreatment of the youth is discovered through investigation, but many times the consequences are so trivial that it means nothing to the disciplined staff. This creates a feeling among the other concerned staff that it's all right to abuse the youth, and it brings to mind the question, "Why should anyone try to do a reasonable job with the youth?" Abuse of the locked-up youth occurs all over the state of Texas. What is so disturbing is that management supposedly has a system to properly care for locked-up youth. It's all about polished floors, smiling faces, happy staff, and deception of the public trust.
Being the director of security for several years was both enlightening and painful. One of my bosses then began to make my life miserable. He is one of the misguided, irresponsible persons that sucked up to the right people to get his job. That would have been acceptable, except he began to undermine everything that I had been doing. There were two staff members who were trying so hard to get promoted that their physical appearance was changed—from having their noses so far up this supervisor's posterior. They became the laugh of the campus, but their supervisor loved a kiss-up. He once told me, "Why can't you be more like Curly and Moe?" I didn't respect him as a man, so I thought about slapping him rather than punching him in the face. I decided to not touch him, even though he deserved a thrashing.
I took a vacation, which upset my supervisor, so he came to my house everyday trying to get me to go back to work. As a secondary job, I was also assigned to be the safety officer. When I attempted to train our staff about safety in large meetings, he undermined me and the safety program by laughing and stating, "Do you really expect us to do all that?" I talked with the superintendent (also known as the superintendent-in-absence) about his behavior, but I received no help. He allowed the assistant to run the campus because he was rarely at work. I did manage to change positions with another staff that was pushing hard to be promoted; it allowed me to move to another position, away from the supervision of this ingrate who was so ignorant.
As the youth rights specialist, I read and assigned thousands of youth complaints, and I investigated over a thousand abuse, mistreatment, and neglect cases where staff members were the suspects. If the public only knew all of the violations of policy and how their youth were mistreated on a daily basis, the TYC would be back under the supervision of the state courts. Judge William Wayne Justice would roll over in his grave. In 1971 he presided over the case against the Texas Youth Council, and it was finally settled in 1984. He was the judge appointed to oversee TYC for several years when mass corruption and youth abuse was discovered all over the state. I reported much mistreatment of youth, and how management covered up the abuse, to the Austin headquarters. They, too, were involved and complicit. They were advised of many problems and yet choose to not interfere with the mismanaged affairs affecting youth and staff. When staff see incompetent administrators and questionable managers, it's difficult to perform under their misguided influences. If you bring out a problem to management, then you become the problem! Some of this was a part of the good old boy syndrome, and some was by appointing inadequate people who were willing to be a team player. "Team player" in TYC means blind obedience and no questions asked of incompetence and corruptive leadership. TYC uses special groups who supposedly suggest changes to better improve the agency, but anyone who has attended the meetings knows the administrators have already made their incompetent decisions and will find something wrong with any suitable suggestions.
One superintendent had the staff rotate and conduct the staff meeting for him; that way he could drift in whenever he wanted and let someone else handle his responsibilities. He thought that by having staff read the policy, he was covered if someone violated a policy. It was amusing and frustrating because twenty-five staff members were forced to attend the so-called management meeting, which rarely solved any problems. One psychologist read a policy and then stated, "Did anyone even understand what I just read?" No one responded, but they played along with the boss's plan. It didn't matter if anything was understood, only that it was read at the meeting. TYC conducts meetings to discuss meetings, and it wastes more valuable staff time than the state can afford. It's all a power struggle and a display of authority by the incompetent leadership. Superintendents and assistant superintendents are special people with privileged perks bestowed by top management.
It seems in some cases that TYC goes out of its way to select the most irresponsible (and in many cases, ignorant) people to fill these positions. I found that much of this was not accidental but a planned practice of the commission. There are "team players," "protected classes," and primed kiss-ups throughout the agency, all being groomed to take over the top spots when their time arrives. The agency is much like the sleek chameleon, which can change its color to blend in with the current terrain. This too is the agency: it can present itself as a smooth, efficient, and properly managed organization to the public, while through its deceptive practices corrupt staff, it further injures the youth in its control. It hurts society, yet in its diplomatic expertise, it fools the public that it serves. Beware of the lizard—it does have a potent bite.
During 1985 our superintendent became involved with the local media when some of our female offenders began giving sex to five staff members. Everyone but the superintendent knew the campus was in turmoil, and the staff was doing whatever they pleased with the students. Several male staff decided to take advantage of the offers from the female students. If you've ever worked around females who are locked up, you know some of them will entice you with their charms and other assets. A helicopter from Odessa, Texas, landed a television crew, who had heard of the scandal and were asking about the corruption. S. A. was made the scapegoat of this embarrassing issue, and he was reassigned to parole work. The staff involved was so overwhelmed by the female students' offers that they took full advantage of their youthful inexperience—and they even took incriminating pictures of their involvement. The superintendent would stay in his office with the door almost completely closed as he pretended to work. I used to go to his office to obtain signatures for security-related issues, and I could see him at his desk. He had a picture located on the wall, and you could see his reflection behind his desk. He didn't like to be interrupted, even if it was about serious violations on the campus. I found out over the next several years that most superintendents acted the same way. If you don't acknowledge that there are problems to be dealt with, then there are no problems, or they will go away. The superintendent who followed this weirdo was not a team player, but he had friends in high places who covered for his lack of management skills and irresponsible leadership.
H. R. knew that there were many problems on the campus and he told me that he kept the superintendent advised of what was going on; however, he choose to ignore the problems and hoped they would disappear. He liked to abuse employees and the youths. He would order staff to climb this monster water tower to watch for youth who had run away. The staff would climb the narrow ladder to the top, with one hand holding a state-issue brick radio, and would hope they wouldn't fall to their death. We all wondered who would be held accountable if someone fell and was killed while following his directions. He once commented to me, "Don't tell people what your degree is in [law enforcement], because they will think the police are caring for their youth." I thought, Man, you're really stupid and out of it. His degree was in forestry, but he was allegedly administering a public corrections program. H. R., one of the few administrators that appeared to know what he was doing, was an ex-marine and seemed to really care about the youth and the programs. The Austin alleged managers forced him to resign because they didn't like his degree area; I guess they wanted him to be in forestry, like his supervisor.
One of the directors stated in a public setting, "If the staff slaps a student for touching them, I will understand." It was like throwing gasoline on a fire that one was trying to control. Many of the female staff would wear pants or jeans so tight that they may have well strutted around naked in front of the youth. Management seemed to enjoy the situation, so it went on. It became mental anguish when the male students watched female staff bend over and intentionally spread their legs apart in front of them. Some of these employees actually married these youths, after they had been seduced with this particular type of sexual abuse. It's interesting that the youth won't report this type behavior because they are usually the benefactors of the abusive conduct. However, if one ever makes the youth mad for some reason, they will report the conduct.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from CARNAL SOCIETY by Randal R. Chance. Copyright © 2013 Randal R. Chance. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments.................... ix
Foreword.................... xi
Chapter #1 Inception.................... 1
Chapter #2 Calm Before the Storm.................... 4
Chapter #3 Carnal Surroundings.................... 10
Chapter #4 Team Players.................... 23
Chapter #5 Shame on the House of Cards.................... 47
Chapter #6 Intimidation Management.................... 56
Chapter #7 Beginning of the Fall.................... 68
Chapter #8 See, Hear, and Speak No Evil.................... 83
Chapter #9 Tragic, Shallow Graves.................... 96
Chapter #10 Collapse of Reality.................... 115
Chapter #11 Free Sex and Morning-After Pills.................... 126
Chapter #12 Dynasty of Lust and Abuse.................... 171
Chapter #13 The Informal Drug Cartel.................... 192
Chapter #14 Sex Abuse—The Perfect Storm.................... 210
Chapter #15 Raped by the State.................... 227
Chapter #16 Stolen Integrity.................... 240
Chapter #17 Paid to Rape.................... 253
Chapter #18 Conclusions.................... 258
Chapter #19 Deliverance and Reforms.................... 265
Epilogue.................... 303
About the Author and the Book.................... 307