Former youth worker charged with sex assault

[Oscar]

Again - this time at Krause Children's Residential Treatment Center in Katy.

Former youth worker charged with sex assault, ABC local, May 10, 2011

[Inculcated]

Another reason to stop warehousing kids from the foster care system in RTCs
The article Oscar has linked above provides both text and video.
Here are two other links to articles one of which includes some detail about the facility and the other an ugly mug shot:

Ex-youth facility staffer charged in sex assault
Few details released in case involving girl, 15

By BRIAN ROGERS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 9, 2011, 7:48PM
A former staffer at a residential treatment facility in Katy has been charged with sexual assault of a child, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl who lived at the center.
Investigators believe Robert Paul Gentry, 28, had sex with the girl in a southwest Houston apartment on Dec. 1, said Emma Rodriguez, a Houston police officer assigned to an FBI task force investigating crimes against children.
Rodriguez said she did not know Gentry's position at the home. Officials for the treatment facility said Gentry is no longer employed there, but declined to give any details, citing privacy rules.
The facility has room for 65 youths, ages 12 to 17, with emotional disorders, according to the state's regulatory website.
Scott Carroll, a spokesman for Lutheran Social Services, a nonprofit organization that operates two other similar facilities in Texas, said employees generally are screened with background checks. Carroll would not discuss Gentry.
Gentry was released Sunday on a $20,000 bond after being arrested last week. He could not be reached for comment, and his attorney did not return calls.
Gwen Carter, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family Services, said the agency investigated and has stopped placing foster children in the facility while regulators work with the center's management to address possible violations.
brian.rogers@chrondotcom

Houston Man Robert Paul Gentry Charged with Sexual Assault of a Child

[Oscar]

I could be wrong but it could be the same residential treament center which claimed the life of 14 year old Maria Mendoza back in 2002.

Senate committee approves bill restricting child restraints, By LISA FALKENBERG, Associated Press Writer, Friday, April 4, 2003 (From TeenAdvocateUSA)

AUSTIN (AP) - Salvador Sanchez, an uncle who had grown to be a father to his troubled, suicidal teenage niece, was counting down the days until she would come home from the hospital, hoping she would soon be free of the depression that sent her there.

Two weeks before her expected release last October, the family received a call that 14-year-old Maria Mendoza had died at the Krause Children's Residential Treatment Center in Katy. Hospital officials at first called it an accident, but Sanchez said autopsy results showed the girl died from mechanical asphyxiation while being physically restrained.

"She was healthy in the morning and in the afternoon this happened," said Sanchez, a 54-year-old appliance technician. "You're thinking this facility is trying to help your child and at the same time she died there."

Sanchez was one of a sad stream of family members on Thursday armed with photos and powerful stories who testified before a Senate panel, urging passage of a bill to restrict the use of physical restraints in psychiatric hospitals and other facilities.

The Health and Human Services committee unanimously approved sending the bill by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, on to the full Senate.

"It was something that should have been done a long time ago," Sanchez said after the vote. "If this would have been passed prior, our Maria would still be here. I know we can't bring her back, but we can help keep someone else from being hurt."

But Sanchez and others said they were disappointed that the bill the committee approved lacked criminal penalties for hospitals or employees involved in restraint deaths.

"It would have been nice if there were some penalties," said Charles Moody, whose 17-year-old son, Chase, died in October at a Mason County wilderness camp after being restrained by three camp counselors. "Right now, it's up to the individual discretion of district attorneys."

Jerry Boswell, president of Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Texas, a mental health watchdog group, said such penalties are the only way to deal with "the gravity of the harm that's been done."

"It needs to be very clear cut that a deadly restraint needs to be criminally prosecuted just like a parent would be," he said.

Still, Boswell said the bill is a good start.

"The passage of this legislation could well be a life and death matter," he said. "Again and again we have seen children killed or injured in restraint, yet the state has not aggressively cracked down on facility licenses, and has rarely prosecuted anyone involved in the restraints.

The bill bans treatment facilities from using restraints that block a resident's airway, impair breathing by putting pressure on the torso and interfere with the resident's ability to communicate.

It also orders the Health and Human Services commissioner to establish a work group to recommend best practices in policy, training, safety and risk management for facilities. The group is also ordered to conduct a study that develops a comprehensive reporting system to collect and analyze data related to the use of behavioral and physical restraints.

Boswell said this provision will make it easier to track and target problem institutions.

A similar bill passed the Senate last session, but was never scheduled for debate in the full House, Zaffirini said.

[Ursus]

Here's that article, from the link in the OP, copied out in full:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

abc13 · KTRK-TV/DT

Former youth worker charged with sex assault
Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Deborah Wrigley

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A former employee at a children's treatment center meant to help abused children is now accused of the ultimate betrayal, the sexual assault of a child. It's a child, officials say, he met while working at the center.

It's an arrest that has prompted Child Protective Services to stop sending children to the facility. The suspect worked at the Krause Children's Residential Treatment Center in Katy, where he's accused of developing the inappropriate relationship.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services suspended placement of foster children to the facility about a month ago. That was about the same time an investigation of a former employee of the Krause Center was being developed. Now a CPS spokesperson says the two events are related.

Robert Paul Gentry, 28, is accused of sexual assault of a child. Houston police claim the victim is a 15-year-old girl. The alleged incident dates back to December.

Gentry had been employed at the Krause Center in Katy, a residential treatment facility for troubled youth. Prosecutors say the girl was client there.

"She was staying there and she made some allegations and outcried that a sexual assault had taken place," said prosecutor Samantha Knecht. "That was turned over to authorities who investigated it."

According to court documents, the alleged assault happened miles from the center, at an apartment in southeast Houston on December 1, 2010. Apartment managers say Gentry was not the tenant.

A spokesperson for the Krause Center says Gentry is a former employee, but the home operated by Lutheran Social Services, was unaware of his arrest. Gentry had no criminal history.

The Krause Center is routinely inspected by Texas Child Care Licensing. In recent months, on the state agency's website, there were corrected violations noted, but nothing to hint at what police claim happened.

Advocate Randy Burton, with Justice For Children, said, "It's a large group home that provides 24 hour care. It's extraordinary to me that something like this could happen."

A spokesperson for Lutheran Social Services of Texas says that the alleged victim was not a resident of the Krause Center at the time of the alleged assault. He had no comment on the state's decision to temporarily stop the placement of children at the center.


Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT.

[Ursus]

It seems that some are not so surprised about this man's behavior...

Comments left for the above article, "Former youth worker charged with sex assault" (by Deborah Wrigley; May 10, 2011; KTRK-TV/DT):


1 · Eldareyna99 · 5/10/11 12:14 PM EDT

he's nothing but trash!! throw the book at him!

3 · ken0326 · 5/10/11 8:54 PM EDT

This pervert needs to do some serious jail time. To take advantage of someone with that has already been abused is about as low as you can get.

4 · kasey_jacobson · 5/10/11 9:42 PM EDT

and to think he also worked on an ambulance at one point before this he always flirted with me and my best friend ewwwwwwwwww its nasty he deserves to rot hin He!!

6 · ZeroBucket · 5/11/11 9:19 AM EDT

Eye-candy he's not

7 · ZeroBucket · 5/11/11 9:25 AM EDT

Can't keep it in his pants, well... he will get lots of fun opportunities to let awl hang out where he's going. <br/>;0)

8 · shumaewein2002 · 5/11/11 10:36 AM EDT

Number 4 he did

9 · PARADUCK72 · 5/11/11 10:42 AM EDT

i would like to know what ambulance company that kasey was at because i dont know a kasey and ive known ROB for years and now i can say i wish i would have never meet him after this( from the ambualnce company he worked at with alot of my friends and a family member )but that i know of i have never seen a kasey wonder who her friend is

10 · taimoc_lo · 5/12/11 2:43 AM EDT

What happened to Innocent until proven guilty?? The accuser is a known "troubled" teen. What credibility does she have really? Does she have a motive for making such an accusation? 15 year old's lie all the time. Is this even still America? Let the system take it's course before pronouncing sentence.

11 · kasey_jacobson · 5/12/11 3:58 PM EDT

she is a troubled teen that is correct but i know the people that work with this girl and she is very emotional about this and when they do the investigation it wouldnt suprise me if more come clean about what he did because im sure she wasnt the only one i know him and personally if he wasnt guilty he wouldnt have taken off when they 1st started to question him about this.....instead he went to another city hmmmmm whos guilty now HIMMMMMMMMMM

Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT.

[Inculcated]

I could be wrong but it could be the same residential treatment center which claimed the life of 14 year old Maria Mendoza back in 2002.

Damn, Oscar is right. Here we have yet another example coming out of Texas where a youth facility already known to have been lethal remains to become involved in yet another child’s victimization.

Sadly, neither the restraint death of Maria Mendoza, nor the recent arrest of a Krause Children’s Center Staffer Robert Paul Gentry (who is charged with sexually assaulting a fifteen year who was placed in the care of Krause Children’s  center), nor the three day jail stint served by a Krause Children’s Center teacher’s aide (for admittedly showing nude cellphone photos of himself to an underage girl at the facility and allegations of inappropriate physical contact) shows in the first two pages of google search results of the facility’s name at this time.

Um, this may just be my take on it, but I do not consider the spokesperson’s position of ignorance=innocence in an effort to distance themselves is adequately satisfying the concerns that not only was this man able to initiate contact with the victim through his employment at  Krause Children’s Center, but also the glaring concern over the fact that he was able to gain access to the child off property.

I’m flummoxed as to how this place is still also listed as a “charter school”. http://www.trinitycharterschools.org/
Another article reporting on the restraint death of the 14 yr. old girl states “As a result of the incident[…] Krause lost a contract with the Katy school district, which had sent disruptive students to classes taught at the center.” A decision which the district probably wasn’t regretting when Clifford Earl Hinton got off easy last year.

[Inculcated]

The brief article on the plea deal linked below includes yet another ugly mug shot of yet another pedo predator:

Former Krause Center Aide Gets Three Days In Jail Over Nude Photo Incident
By: Jamie Mock on Wed, Feb 2, 2011

A former teacher’s aide at Katy’s Krause Children’s Center has been released from jail following a three-day sentence after he pled guilty to charges he showed a nude cell phone photo of himself to an underage girl at the center.

CLIFFORD EARL HINTON
Clifford Earl Hinton, 25 of Houston, entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor charges of displaying harmful material to a minor and was sentenced to three days in the Fort Bend County Jail.

Hinton was also given deferred adjudication on more serious felony charges of engaging in an improper relationship with a student. In that separate incident, Hinton reportedly placed a female student’s hand on his genitals over his clothing.

Under terms of the plea deal, the felony charge will be dropped if Hinton successfully completes five years of probation.

Both incidents took place at the Krause Center in 2009. Hinton was indicted by a Fort Bend County grand jury in 2010.

He was subsequently terminated from the center.

Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey said he had hoped for a harsher sentence, but added the case had “evidentiary problems.” Healy did not disclose the nature of those problems.

In addition to the jail sentence and five years’ probation, Hinton will have to undergo therapy for sex offenders and forfeit licenses held with the Texas Board of Education. He is also prohibited from having contact with anyone younger than 18.

He will not have to register as a sex offender.

Operated by Lutheran Social Services, the Krause Center provides residential treatment services for at-risk youths ages 11-17. Many of the students at the center have been victims of abuse, abandonment or neglect.
Krause Children's Center officials said Hinton's employment has been terminated

[Ursus]

Getting back to the subject of this thread for a brief bit... here's the 2nd article from Inculcated's previous post above:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

AllMetroNews.com

Houston Man Robert Paul Gentry Charged with Sexual Assault of a Child

Published 05/09/2011 21:48:00 by AP_News


Robert Paul Gentry, 28 | Photo courtesy of the Harris County Sheriff's Office

HOUSTON - A residential treatment center worker is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in southeast Houston.

Robert Paul Gentry, 28, is charged with Sexual Assault of Child. His first court appearance was scheduled for Monday.

He is out on $20,000 bond.

Gentry was a staff member at the Krause Residential Treatment Center, according to a Child Protective Services statement. The victim was being cared for in that facility.

The victim identified Gentry in a photo lineup shortly after she reported the sexual assault to police, according to a probable cause document.

She told investigators Gentry had sexual contact with her in the 8800 block of Broadway Street, just north of William P. Hobby Airport on or around Dec. 1, 2010.

The victim said she knew Gentry, calling him "Rob," according to the document.

TXDFPS has suspended the placement of foster children into Krauser, according to the statement. The Residential Child Care Licensing division is working with the facility's managers to address possible violations of minimum standards that may have occurred.

The Houston Police Department's Juvenile Sex Crimes Division collaborated with the Houston FBI Innocence Lost Task Force in the investigation.


Copyright © 2010 Integrated News Media Corp

[Ursus]

UltimateFortBend.com

Arrests: Robert Paul Gentry Arrested

by BlockShopper News Service | May 7, 2011 12:00 am

A Richmond man was arrested and charged with sex assault child 14-17 on May 7, 2011, the Harris County Sheriff's Department reported. Robert Paul Gentry, 29 years old, was booked at the Harris County Jail on May 7, 2011 and is facing a felony charge. He resides at 17906 Scrub Oak Dr.

Address: 17906 SCRUB OAK DR
City/Zip: Richmond / 77469

Filed under: Arrests

This news brief is directly derived from information reported by the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

If you believe Harris County authorities are reporting something in error, please notify us via email at [email protected]. Be sure to include details of your case and a phone number.

Please note-- we do not process requests for expungement of records. For expungement, contact the Harris County District Attorney.[/list][/size]

--------------

Arrest Details:

Name: Robert Paul Gentry
Sex: M
Race: W
Date of Birth: Jun 24, 1982
Arrests:
Arrest Date: May 7, 2011
Booking Date: May 7, 2011
Charge Code: 110090
Charge Wording: sex assault child 14-17
Charge Level: F2
Case Number: 130523301010[/list]