Former Bastrop shelter caretaker accused of exploiting girls not indicted by grand jury
BASTROP, Texas - A Bastrop County grand jury has declined to indict Iesha Greene, a former employee of the Refuge for DMST, a facility for juvenile sex trafficking victims.
Greene was accused of selling nude photographs of juvenile sex trafficking victims in exchange for drugs and alcohol. The Refuge had its state license suspended following the incident.
Amid the investigation, all youth were removed from their care, all operations were suspended, and 75 percent of their workforce was laid off.
9 employees of the Refuge Ranch accused of trafficking at least 7 underage victims
The Texas Senate Special Committee on Child Protective Services held an emergency meeting on Thursday after multiple employees of the Refuge Ranch, a state funded facility for child sex trafficking survivors, were accused of trafficking multiple underage victims.
In a statement, Refuge founder and CEO Brooke Crowder told FOX 7 Austin:
"We expected a different outcome from the grand jury because our singular goal has been justice for our two residents who were mistreated by a former employee. We are humbled that this decision seems to clear the final obstacle to the restoration of our license, and we hope that our licensing agency and elected officials will expedite that process. It is time to once again welcome to our healing community the children whose lives have been upended by exploitation so they can continue their healing process in earnest."
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Greene was fired from the Giddings State School in Lee County in April 2020 for having inappropriate relationships with children in her care.
She was hired by the Refuge 16 months later. The Refuge officials have testified that they run state-required background checks on all prospective employees and that Greene’s screening revealed she did not have a criminal record.