The Refuge, absolved in child trafficking scandal, to reopen

The Refuge, a Bastrop facility for survivors of sex trafficking, is set to reopen this spring after months of public investigations and backlash over allegations that employees at the facility had themselves been trafficking foster children staying there.

Authorities absolved the center of any criminal wrongdoing, and Texas reinstated its license at the end of last month — though officials said they have no plans to send foster kids there. The accusations sent shock waves through Texas in March 2022, as court documents highlighted several reports of abuse at the center and a lackluster state inquiry into a former staffer who had been accused of conspiring to sell nude photos of two residents in exchange for drugs that January.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services removed all children staying at the facility, and several state officials were fired over their handling of the reports. The Refuge shut down as local, state and federal officials looked into the allegations, which included a separate incident in which several staffers were accused of helping residents run away.

A grand jury didn’t indict the employee, Iesha Greene, at the center of the nude photo accusations, Texas Public Radio reported. Other law enforcement and political agencies found communication breakdowns within DFPS and other state agencies but concluded The Refuge followed protocol when reporting the allegations and terminating employees involved.

“Organizations like ours that are entrusted with the care of our state’s most vulnerable children should be held to high standards, and we are grateful that the investigations and hearings of the past year have revealed our adherence to them in regard to the allegations that were made,” Brooke Crowder, the founder and CEO of The Refuge, said in a statement.

The two young girls who had been involved in the initial allegations told TPR in September that they appreciated The Refuge for its work supporting sex trafficking survivors, but they felt officials didn’t do enough to protect them from further harm.

“They can’t even take responsibility for what they’ve done and what they let happen,” one of the girls said. “In the beginning, all I wanted was for them to say, ‘I’m sorry’ and that they’re going to do better for the next girls that come. I didn’t want the place to get shut down, but honestly, it’s not going to get better.”