JUDGE MAY RULE TODAY IN TRIAL OVER SEX ABUSE AT BOOT CAMP

This article contains sexually explicit language.

ARLINGTON -- At 13 she was hooked on amphetamine, selling drugs to support
her habit and living in extended-stay motels.

At 17 she was pregnant by her drug-dealing husband. She managed sporadic
periods without drugs throughout her 20s. But her devotion to drugs and her
grim lifestyle prevailed.

She alienated her two children and family, and she eventually ended up in
court on drug charges.

Her last chance to avoid prison was entering a substance- abuse program at
the Tarrant County Community Corrections Facility in Mansfield.

But during her six-month confinement in 1999, she was subjected to sexual
abuse by a maintenance employee at the minimum-security facility for
probationers.

Today, 141st District Judge Paul Enlow is expected to rule on a $4 million
lawsuit filed by the woman and two other former female inmates against
Correctional Services Corp., which is the private contractor that runs the
facility.

The woman, who is not being named by the Star-Telegram because she is a
sexual assault victim, is the only plaintiff that attorneys allowed to be
interviewed.

The maintenance employee, Michael Zahn, later resigned and pleaded guilty
to official oppression, which is a misdemeanor. Zahn received two years'
probation after admitting he told the woman he could have her probation
revoked if she didn't submit to his wishes. He coerced her into undressing
and masturbating as he watched from an attic vent.

"I was finally ready to do something about my problems with drugs, and then
to have someone hurt me that way . . . well, it really hurts," said the
woman, who lives in Arlington with her two teen-age children. "I'm just now
starting to deal with what happened there."

The women are suing the Florida-based corporation for mental anguish.

"I want to hear the judge say that what happened to the three of us was
wrong and will not be tolerated," the 33-year-old plaintiff said. "We
trusted them to help us turn our lives around."

The decision from Enlow, who heard the case without a jury, could have
broader implications for the embattled Mansfield facility, which has been
under fire for escapes, staffing shortages and questions of proper medical
care.

The 370-bed facility houses a boot camp and three substance- abuse programs
for probationers. It is supervised by the probation department and the
county's 19 criminal court judges.

Citing a projected $2.4 million shortfall in next year's budget for the
probation department, the judges voted unanimously last month to stop using
a private contractor to run the facility. Correctional Services Corp.'s
contract expires Sept. 1. Most judges said the problems at the facility
were a factor in their decision.

Judge Cheril S. Hardy, who presides over County Criminal Court 7, said she
and her colleagues were devastated by the accusations of sexual abuse.

But Hardy continued to send offenders to the facility.

"I think most of the people who know anything about it [ the facility] want
to keep it around," she said. "I think we did what we needed to do. We got
CSC out of the way."

Hardy said she hopes the probation department and judges can find a way to
keep the programs open.

A committee of judges is examining the operating cost of a Harris County
boot camp with similar substance-abuse programs. That facility operates at
about $48 a day per bed, compared with estimates in Mansfield of nearly $60
a bed per day. Correctional Services Corp. is paid $21.94 per day per bed.

During the trial, testimony depicted a culture at the facility that treated
women as second-class inmates and ignored their grievances against facility
employees.

The plaintiffs' attorneys contend that staffing shortages prevented the
company from having enough female guards to supervise female inmates.
Female inmates are supposed to be supervised by female staff and not left
alone with male employees, according to the corporation's contract with the
probation department.

Tony Schaffer, an Austin lawyer representing the corporation, argued during
the trial that the abuses could have been prevented if the plaintiffs had
filed grievances or told someone about the two employees' misconduct.

But witnesses testified that many inmates at the camp did not file
grievances because they feared retaliation by facility employees.

The drug treatment program did help the 33-year-old Arlington woman uncover
the deep-rooted nature of her addiction and provided her the skills to kick
her amphetamine habit, hold a steady job and establish a stable home for
her children.

"The program saved my life," she said. "But I shouldn't have had to suffer
the sexual abuse."

The trial ended Thursday after seven days of testimony. The plaintiffs'
attorneys said they would not settle the case before Enlow's ruling today.

"In this situation, the only way to know what is really going on there is
for a public trial," said Fort Worth lawyer W. Brice Cottongame, one of
three attorneys for the plaintiffs. "Unfortunately for our clients, we had
good facts to work with. They went through some really horrible things that
should never befall a young woman."