Revelations of the f'ight club' atmosphere within the Corpus Christi State School have certainly been one of the most disturbing letdowns of public trust in some time. According to police reports and news accounts, supervisors at the school for the mentally disabled routinely organized fights among disabled residents and filmed the violence for their own entertainment.

The mother of one of the victims, Inez Hernandez, has filed a negligence claim on behalf of her 21-year-old mentally disabled son, Armando Hernandez Jr., who was among those forced to battle. The lawsuit filed by Corpus Christi-based Hilliard Muńoz Guerra against the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services charges that Mr. Hernandez suffered physical injuries and continues to suffer emotional trauma including severe humiliation, degradation and mental anguish as a result of the experience.

"These special-needs residents are some of the most vulnerable and fragile members of our community," says attorney Robert Hilliard. "To think that the protectors of their welfare were turning them into tools for their own sick entertainment makes my blood boil. I put this at the feet of the agency itself, an agency that, time and time again, throughout this state has allowed systematic abuse of every kind to go mostly unchecked."

For more information, contact Barry Pound at 800-559-4534 (office), 214-293-0860 (mobile) or barry@androvett.com.