State senators call for Carrion’s resignation
‘Social’ at juvenile prison turns into taxpayer-funded sex party?
By DEBORAH A. MILES
State Senator Catherine Young, R-Olean, held a press conference May 26 in Albany and called for the immediate resignation of state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Commissioner Gladys Carrion.
Young told reporters Carrion sanctioned a social for juvenile offenders at the Goshen Secure Center in Orange County that turned into a state-taxpayer-funded sex party.
Carrion,
who was appointed to head OCFS by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, has
been on PEF’s radar. She has downsized state facilities and transferred
youths to ill-equipped, privately run community-based programs. Her tenure
has been marked by a dramatic increase in the number of assaults on staff
and a breakdown in youth discipline. News broke about the sex party after a Goshen youth development aide, Tony Collado, went public. He was ordered to drive two women to a dance in a state car from a street corner in Albany to Goshen and back, a 230-mile round trip. One was a 15-year-old girl, and the other woman was in her 20s. They were taken to Goshen and performed lap dances and sexual acts on the boys, some of whom were murderers, according to Collado. Video surveillance captured some of the interactions.
Young was flanked by several state Republican senators and union representatives at the press conference who also said Carrion should be shown the door.
Shocking, outrageous
“I didn’t think anything could shock me anymore, but the story about this sex party at Goshen left me stunned,” said PEF Secretary-Treasurer Arlea Igoe, who also addressed the dozen reporters at the press conference.
“This is unconscionable and misguided behavior of an appointed official who showed extraordinarily bad judgment by allowing a party for juveniles who have been confined for criminal offenses. It is shocking and outrageous that teenage girls are being escorted at the taxpayers’ expense into juvenile justice facilities. The sex party is the last straw and Carrion must be held accountable,” Igoe said.
“These are gang members and hardened criminals convicted for violent crimes such as rape, murder and armed robbery. They are being rewarded by having girls brought to them for their personal entertainment,” Young said.
It’s not the first time young women were invited into a juvenile justice facility. Last summer, Young paid an unannounced visit to a “social” at the Brookwood Secure Center for youths in Columbia County where she was shocked to find the youth offenders dancing with young women.
Excuses, excuses
After the press conference, the governor rejected calls for the immediate resignation of Carrion and said, “I think she has actually done an excellent job.”
An OCFS spokesman, Edward Borges, was quoted in the Albany Times Union saying the social was an experiment to reward good behavior.
“Some staff in facilities don’t know how to supervise an event. Some people witnessed it and didn’t do their jobs,” he said.
PEF President Ken Brynien said it’s not surprising Carrion will once again point the finger at members of her own staff, rather than take responsibility for her actions.
The allegations are being investigated by the state inspector general who also is checking for incorrect conduct by Carrion’s office and by the state Commission on Corrections.