Jailer allegedly bribed teen for sex in Harris juvenile detention center

Nasty sexual abuse allegations coming out of the Harris County juvenile detention center. Reported the Houston Chronicle:

For months, no one stopped or questioned Robert Emerson Robinson for leaving his post as a jailer on the boys unit at the Harris County Juvenile Justice Center and going to the girls' floor. Instead, many of the jailer's co-workers covered for him when he did leave.

These allegations are outlined in a civil lawsuit by the parents of the 15-year-old girl, who was housed at the juvenile detention center and allegedly sexually assaulted by Robinson in May.

The teen told authorities Robinson lured her into sexual acts by providing her with candy while she was housed in the facility at 1200 Congress.

Officials fired the 28-year-old jailer about two months before he was charged with sexual assault of a child in October.

Danny and Michelle Hall, the girl's parents, said they filed the suit this week because they are concerned that proper procedures are not being implemented at the juvenile detention center regarding interaction between male jailers and juvenile girls. They want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else's child.

"The fact that Harris County allowed this predator to wander around the juvenile detention center unsupervised, we can only suspect that there are more victims not only from this gentleman, but potentially from other people," said Keith Lapeze, the Halls' attorney.

Grits readers are well aware of the sexual abuse allegations that ultimately ended the Texas Youth Commission as an independent agency. In this case, a young girl was allegedly molested while awaiting transfer to a state youth facility, including a final visit the night before she went away. If the facts as alleged in the suit are true, the facility has a rough ride and likely a large civil payout looming in its future. The question now: Was this an isolated incident or the tip of an iceberg?