Like dozens of others, 18-year-old Erik Rodriguez walked out of a Texas Youth Commission prison Friday, his sudden freedom a byproduct of the scandal that has swept the state's juvenile justice agency.

 

MELANIE BURFORD/DMN

Alice Smith held her son Erik Rodriguez, who also was met by grandparents Lupe and Janie Fuentez upon release Friday.

"This isn't just about me," Mr. Rodriguez said after the Corsicana prison's heavy door slammed shut behind him. "It's about every teenager, every kid who gets mistreated in TYC facilities ... every kid who gets stepped on, who gets their rights violated every single day and who gets treated like an animal."

TYC's newly installed management had freed more than 100 inmates by the end of the day Friday, part of its efforts to purge and clean up the troubled agency. Spokesman Jim Hurley said 473 juveniles will have been released within days to family members or guardians.

Until this week, TYC held about 4,700 inmates, ages 10 to 21. Most are repeat offenders who engaged in property crimes, although TYC also holds those who committed rape, kidnapping and murder.

Agency officials have said that the inmates being freed now are those who have completed their minimum sentences and are either pre-approved for release or are low-risk.

This week, the Legislature's joint committee on the agency called for establishing a formula to "responsibly reduce the TYC youth population."

Mr. Rodriguez strolled from the gatehouse at the Corsicana Residential Treatment Center about 10 a.m. Friday. Squinting in the bright sunshine and shivering in the chill, he was flanked by his mother, his grandparents and his attorney.

"It was the moment I've been waiting for," said his mother, Alice Smith. She works for KENS-TV in San Antonio, owned by Belo Corp., parent company of The Dallas Morning News.

The family's lawyer, James Myart Jr. of San Antonio, credited Ms. Smith's recent lobbying of the governor's office for her son's freedom.

"Two weeks ago, I got a letter from [TYC executive director Ed] Owens saying [Erik] was not going to be released," Mr. Myart said. Ms. Smith's efforts apparently reversed that. "While we thank the governor for his efforts," Mr. Myart said, "I simply say, 'It's about time.' "

Mr. Rodriguez spent more than two years at TYC for multiple burglaries of homes. The News highlighted his case in a story last month about physical abuse of TYC inmates.

He was badly beaten in September by a gang of four inmates while guards for his dorm were not at their station. The two guards were later fired.

Mr. Rodriguez said the guards allowed the assault to occur because they did not like him. Mr. Myart said Friday that a lawsuit against TYC will be filed shortly.

The attorney acknowledged that Mr. Rodriguez's record at TYC has not been perfect. He has been disciplined repeatedly for arguments with staff members, and in one case, for assault on a guard.

"They are treated like animals," Mr. Myart said of juvenile inmates. "Any tame animal can be turned wild if they're constantly agitated in a system."

Not everyone released Friday had harsh comments for TYC. Reba McKee, 17, of Denison joyfully exited the Corsicana prison minutes before Mr. Rodriguez.

"I just want to go home and sleep in a real bed, eat some real food and pet a dog," she said. She said she spent 16 months in TYC for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and earned her GED while locked up.

"The staff mostly cared about us," she said. Now, she said, "I want to go to college. I want to do right."

TYC has undergone major changes in the past seven weeks, with many more to come. The upheaval began after The News and the Web site of the Texas Observer reported that administrators at the West Texas State School were found to have sexually molested inmates. Despite warnings from employees, TYC officials did nothing to stop the activity for more than a year.

Since then, The News has revealed that hundreds of inmates at all TYC jails have complained of sexual abuse by staff members. Despite dozens of disciplinary actions for sexual misconduct, no TYC employee has served prison time for this.

The News also has published accounts of guards beating TYC inmates or of encouraging chosen inmates to attack those inmates who had fallen from favor.

The agency's executive director abruptly retired in February and its board was dissolved by the Legislature soon thereafter. Most top managers have been fired or forced to resign, and a conservator, Jay Kimbrough, has been appointed to oversee the rebuilding of the agency.

Reducing the inmate population will allow the agency to improve its inmate-to-guard ratio. At times, guards have been required to supervise as many as 26 inmates.

The agency's new management also has moved aggressively to discipline, terminate or arrest employees suspected of violations. On Friday, officials suspended the acting superintendent of the West Texas prison over allegations that he did not report a consensual sexual act between two inmates. Curtis Simmons was suspended with pay, pending an investigation.

One of the inmates freed this week was Joseph Galloway, who entered the TYC system in 2003 as a pudgy 15-year-old. On Thursday, he walked out of Crockett State School as a lean 19-year-old, into the arms of his tearful mother.

In his four years in four different TYC facilities, Mr. Galloway says he suffered physical abuse at the hands of staff and fellow inmates. He was beaten and had his nose broken at a facility in Marlin; at Giddings State School, a female staffer performed oral sex on him and an inmate raped him while a guard stood nearby; at the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg, another inmate broke his jaw during a beating, he said.

His mother, Genger Galloway, has been instrumental in bringing to light abuses within TYC, writing to lawmakers and government officials, contacting reporters and testifying in state hearings.

Ms. Galloway says her son got into trouble for inappropriately touching his younger twin siblings. TYC records list his offense as aggravated sexual assault.

Thursday afternoon, Mr. Galloway stepped outside the gatehouse of Crockett's sprawling juvenile prison. "I wanted to do a back flip," he said. "I felt excited. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry."

His first act of freedom was to stuff his prison shirt in a trashcan, exchanging it for a T-shirt bearing the name of the Texas Civil Rights Project, the group that has represented the Galloways in their fight for Joseph's release.

Later, the former inmate spoke of his future. He planned to fish and decompress for a couple of days, then start job hunting Monday, he said.

He talked about applying for a job planting grass for a local horticulture firm. And he spoke of scraping together money to join the Merchant Marine within a year.

"I want to see the world, man," he said. "I've been locked up too long. I know that anything can happen."

Staff writer Emily Ramshaw in Austin contributed to this report.