YOUTH COMMISSION
Ombudsman accused of smuggling items into youth lockups
Official said she was testing security; investigation continues.
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The newly appointed ombudsman for the Texas Youth Commission has been barred from touring lockups amid reports that she smuggled contraband — including a weapon, a cell phone, prescription drugs and cash — past guards in a possible violation of state law.
Authorities confirmed Friday that Catherine S. Evans, a former Dallas County juvenile judge who was named ombudsman in early September by Gov. Rick Perry, is the focus of a criminal investigation into at least two alleged contraband episodes during the past month: one at the Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Beaumont, another at the Crockett State School.
 David Woo/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS Catherine Evans is now banned from agency lockups. |
Youth Commission Executive Director Cherie Townsend said Evans has been prohibited from entering Youth Commission lockups pending the completion of the investigation.
Carrying weapons and other contraband into a state correctional facility is a third-degree felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
Repeated calls to Evans' office and cell phone were not returned.
"An ongoing investigation into this matter will determine whether or not the ombudsman's actions were a legitimate test of security. We will await the results of the investigation," Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said.
House Corrections Committee Chairman Jim McReynolds, D-Lufkin, expressed surprise at the allegations. "I'm told that she was testing the security at facilities," he said. "But I can't imagine anyone trying to take in a weapon to prove a point. That's the craziest thing in the world."
In an official report that Evans and an assistant ombudsman filed after visiting the Beaumont lockup Sept. 22-23, Evans said that she carried in "a brown canvas bag containing a weapon, an iPhone, prescription medicine and $300" through a security checkpoint at the gatehouse.
"Ms. Evans carried her bag through the metal detector and the alarm sounded," the report states. "Ms. Evans opened her bag and the guard glanced in, but none of the items listed above were identified. The guard made no further effort to identify what set off the detector's alarm."
In a subsequent conversation with the lockup's security director, Evans said, she was told that "dorm staff often work the gatehouse and are not trained in conducting proper searches," the report states.
Under Youth Commission rules, the items reportedly carried into the maximum-security lockup by Evans are prohibited.
In a subsequent episode, Evans was found to be carrying a weapon and other prohibited items as she entered the Crockett State School, according to Susan Moynahan, the deputy ombudsman who served as interim director before Evans arrived. Evans was asked to leave the facility.
Moynahan resigned Oct. 8 after telling Perry's office about the Beaumont episode. The ombudsman reports to the governor, not Youth Commission officials.
"Although it is unclear by your report what type of weapon you carried into the facility you reported that you intentionally brought contraband into a facility, which is a felony, and could have resulted in arrest and endangered the lives of youth and staff at that facility," Moynahan's resignation letter states. "In addition, to report this behavior within a site visit report would no doubt result in extremely negative repercussion" for the ombudsman's office.
Moynahan told the American-Statesman she has been interviewed by Youth Commission investigators. "Carrying a weapon onto a correctional facility? This is insanity — not to mention it's a crime," she said. "If she was trying to test security, this is not how you do that. State employees are not above the law."
Youth Commission Inspector General Chris Love did not return a message. But Townsend said she knew of no approved sting for Evans to test security.
"Unbelievable!" said state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who was co-author of Youth Commission reforms that followed a sex-abuse and cover-up scandal in 2007. Those reforms included creation of the ombudsman's office, which acts as an advocate for incarcerated youths.
"At a time when stopping contraband into correctional facilities in this state has been a priority, we have someone who is accused of bringing contraband in to prove security is lax? How in the world could anyone think that's a good idea?" Whitmire said.
During the past year, the smuggling of contraband, particularly cell phones, into state prisons for adults has been a high-profile statewide issue.
If the portions of Evans' report about contraband are a cause for concern, so, too, are her other findings: that the lockup was significantly understaffed, that supervision of some youths was lax or inadequate, that water leaks in a woodshop posed a danger, that classrooms appeared disorganized, that some specialized reading classes "were without curriculum materials and trained teachers" and that toilets and shower areas in some dorms were "stained, dirty and strewn with paper."
Friday's disclosure of the investigation was the latest involving the Youth Commission ombudsman's office. When the post was created in May 2007, the first ombudsman was found to have previous arrests that disqualified him from the job. The hiring policy was later modified, but last May, the Texas Senate refused to confirm the reappointment of that ombudsman, Will Harrell. Perry appointed Evans to take Harrell's place.
mward@statesman.com
