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Mother, YDDC in Albuquerque settle rape lawsuit
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The mother of a 15-year-old boy who was raped in September 2006 at the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center in Albuquerque has reached a settlement agreement in her lawsuit against center employees.
A trust has been set up for her son with about $150,000, she said.
"What upsets me is the settlement is not enough to force the state to make changes" at the center, which houses juvenile offenders, she said.
Her lawsuit against center Director Bruce Langston and six unnamed employees of the state's Children, Youth and Families Department, claimed the state failed to protect her son and forced him to share a room with three known violent offenders Sept. 21, his first night at the center.
Her son was sent to YDDC for a probation violation on a residential burglary conviction. After the rape, he was moved from YDDC to a psychiatric program.
Langston and the other YDDC employees denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
In an interview Thursday, Langston said the center is no longer suffering from staff shortages and that the center is a safer environment for residents and employees.
No rapes or serious injuries have occurred since the September incident, he said.
"The department is doing a great job in managing the numbers coming into the system," he said of the offender population, which averages 135 daily. Last year, the center was crowded with more than 150 offenders. The night of the rape, the population was 158.
The rape victim's mother, whose first name is Maureen, did not want her last name published because it would identify her son.
The Tribune does not publish the names of rape victims.
She and her son were expected in Children's Court today for a hearing before Judge John Romero in the pending criminal case.
Three juveniles were indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury in October on 10 criminal changes stemming from the September rape.
Defendant Darnyle Pioche, 16, of Farmington, was scheduled to enter a plea this morning. Defendant Augustine Chavez, also 16, is scheduled for trial Oct. 15.
In February, the third defendant, Adam Landon of Silver City, who was 15 at the time, admitted to one count of first-degree kidnapping and was sentenced to the custody of the Children, Youth and Families Department until age 21.
At Landon's sentencing, he apologized to the victim's mother, saying, "I pray for you both every night."
Maureen said her son is enrolled in a private school and doing well. He was paroled from state custody early after receiving psychiatric treatment.
