I was disturbed reading this news article. I am also very disturbed at
what is going on in those six people's lives that would they would think a
"fight club" for people with intellectual and mental challenges is a great
idea, not to mention inflicting harm on them (i.e., kicking them). I would
think schools for people with disabilities should all be closed by now and
better options and community inclusion made available for people with
intellectual and mental challenges, even in today's recession.
http://sanantonio.injuryboard.com/miscellaneous/3-jailed-3-more-wanted-in-fight-club-case.aspx?googleid=259184
3 Jailed, 3 More Wanted in “Fight Club” Case
There have been some new
developments<http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/031309kvue_corpus-cb.2fa509e6.html#>in
the “fight club” case in the Corpus Christi State School. As of
Friday,
Corpus Christi Police have arrested three of the six state workers accused
of forcing mentally disabled residents into “fight-club” style brawls. In
custody are Vince Johnson, 21, Timothy Dixon, 30, and Stephanie Garza, 21.
Police are still seeking Jesse Salazar, 21, Guadalupe Delarosa, 21, and
Dangelo Riley, 22.
Criminal charges against the six stem from allegations that for more than a
year workers forced disabled residents into orchestrated, late-night fights.
The employees were caught after videos of at least 20 fights were discovered
on a cell phone that was lost and turned in to police. Four of the videos
show residents sustaining injuries from these fights.
Johnson, Dixon (the owner of the cell phone), Salazar, Delarosa, and Riley
are all charged with injury to a disabled person. Garza is charged with a
state jail felony for allegedly failing to intervene to stop the fights.
Arrest warrants allege that five of the employees encouraged, filmed or
narrated these fights. Dangelo Riley is seen kicking a resident during a
fight, and Timothy Dixon is accused of doing most of the filming and
narration on his personal phone.
Since the “fight club” scandal surfaced the Department of Aging and
Disability Services have made surprise overnight visits to every dorm in
every state school. Gov. Rick Perry has ordered the installation of video
cameras, the hiring of security guards, and adding overnight supervisors at
all facilities.
Lawmakers are moving quickly to enact emergency state school safety
legislation, which passed the Senate on Monday and got a hearing before the
House Human Services Committee on Thursday. Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping
Springs, told agency officials, “I encourage you to do everything you can
right now, and I’m disappointed that we haven’t done more.” The bill would
create an ombudsman to oversee abuse and neglect investigations, and would
require employees to submit to random drug tests and fingerprinting.
Advocates for people with disabilities say that security guards and
surveillance is only a “Band-aid” on a system that is in crisis. The system
is so strapped for cash that it is forced to hire inexperienced,
unprofessional employees, and these new measures do not go far enough. I
agree. I do not think creating an ombudsman is going to solve the problem.
We have TDADS <http://www.dads.state.tx.us/> watching over nursing homes and
they do little in investigating and preventing abuse and neglect of another
vulnerable group, the elderly.
===============
Dawna Lee Rumball, Doctoral Student
President-Elect, Canadian Disability Studies Association /
Association Canadienne des Études sur l'Incapacité
Department of Educational Studies
Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web-site: http://www.cdsa-acei.ca/
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