The legislation came after The Refuge, a Bastrop foster care facility, hired a caretaker without knowing she had a history of sexual misconduct with children at a state juvenile facility. Coworkers also concealed evidence of the abuse, which further put the foster girls at harm.

The action came after The Refuge, a Bastrop foster care facility, hired a caretaker without knowing her history of misconduct.

The upper chamber unanimously passed Senate Bill 182 after The Texas Tribune reported that a state-licensed foster care facility hired a caretaker whom the Texas Juvenile Justice Department previously fired for having inappropriate relationships with children.

The grand jury said it did not find sufficient evidence to indict Iesha Greene, who was reported to have sold and solicited nude photos of children at the Bastrop shelter.

State records show Iesha Greene was fired in 2020 from a state juvenile facility for having inappropriate relationships with children. The Refuge said it was aware of her previous work there, but it never requested her publicly available personnel records.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack said she is seeking a federal criminal investigation into allegations that children were sexually abused and trafficked at The Refuge, a state-licensed foster care shelter for victims of sex trafficking.

Judge Janis Jack, who oversees a years-long federal lawsuit into systemic issues within the state’s foster care facility, sharply criticized the Texas Rangers and Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw, who concluded earlier this month that no wrongdoing had taken place at the now-shuttered The Refuge.

Court-appointed watchdogs of Texas’ troubled foster care system found "ample evidence" that former sex trafficking victims were abused at a foster care facility, contradicting the Texas Rangers’ findings earlier this month.

Brooke Crowder said The Refuge is working to incorporate a deeper employee screening process with the help of a company recommended by the governor’s and attorney general’s offices.

The former child care investigations director said there are agency-wide communication issues that led to a breakdown in relaying key information, but two of his staff members are the ones who suffered the consequences.

It was also revealed at a special Texas Senate committee meeting that the Texas foster care worker who allegedly sold nude pictures of girls is also accused of dating a child trafficker.

An attorney representing foster care children in a suit against Texas said Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw’s conclusion that there was no evidence of sexual abuse despite the investigation into the photos was “both surprising and extremely troubling.”

The Refuge, which closed Friday, said it fired an employee accused of coercing the victims to sell nude photos as soon as it found out. The Bastrop-based shelter has not addressed the other eight staff members also accused of causing harm to the girls.

The children were sexually abused and neglected while at The Refuge, a facility located in Bastrop contracted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to a report from a current employee.