The Texas boys were beaten, abused, raped. Now all they want is an apology

[Judi Lynn]

The youngsters at Cal Farley’s Ranch in Texas were subjected to years of abuse. But the institution’s feeble response has been a slap in the face to survivors

Jason Wilson

@jason_a_w
Wed 20 Dec ‘17 06.00 EST

Steve Smith was just eight when his mother left him in the care of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a Texas institution for at-risk children. From the moment he got there in 1959, the place didn’t sit right with him.

“I cried probably more than any boy that I know that came out [of] there, just homesick, and I didn’t take it very well.”

Almost immediately upon his arrival, Steve was subject to the first of many beatings. For the following decade, he endured regular and arbitrary violence at the hands of staff. He also had to watch helplessly as his younger brother, Rick, was beaten by adults until he couldn’t stand.

Along with the physical punishment, Steve’s pets were killed, and his friends were worked to the bone in atrocious conditions. Some boys, including Rick Smith, were also sexually abused while under the care of the ranch.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/20/texas-cal-farleys-boys-ranch-stories

[pnwmom]

1. So as bad as the "camp" in the book HOLES was, the reality was worse. n/t

[Duppers]

2. How does a human become so inhumane?

What tragic stories of horrific abuse. This was a concentration camp.

[yurbud]

3. when you have private contractors do things...they buy their way out of accountability

that is the bottom line across the board.

If the government thinks something should be done on an ongoing basis, they should do it themselves.

As soon as you get for profit contractors involved, they have a natural incentive to bribe politicians, whether through legal donations, jobs when they leave office or whatever, to not hold them accountable and give them more contracts with more profit and less accountability.

And then they will have more money to repeat the process on a larger scale.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. "If the government thinks something should be done on an ongoing basis, they should do it themselves

Exactly.

Privatize really means "steal your country out from under you"

[yurbud]

5. yep. They get away with it because they've repeated the lie that business does everything better...

However, a lot of the stuff government does, they do because business either ignored too many people, screwed up, or extorted money from their customers when they had a natural monopoly.

My dad is a Republican, but he is glad to get his electricity from a public utility not a private one.