HOUSTON -- One night, outside a West Houston pool hall, Rick Valdez murdered a man.

He was just 13 years old at the time.

“I was looking for more money to get drugs,” Valdez said. “I ended up overreacting and shooting him.”

For the rest of his teenage years, Valdez was sent to live in Giddings, 70 miles northwest of Houston, in one of the state’s youth lock-ups.

The unit is comprised of dorms and cinderblock cells for special punishment.

Valdez described time in those cinderblock cells as “dreadful.”

It’s harsh treatment, but it’s what one might expect in a place that handles the state’s most violent young criminals.

But the Giddings facility is just one of 13 in Texas.

What went on at some of the other lock-ups has become one of the biggest scandals ever for the Texas government.

The allegations levied against the Texas Youth Commission are shocking.

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Giddings State School is part of the TYC.

Officials allegedly sexually abused young inmates, but complaints about the alleged abuse were ignored.

Allegations also claim hundreds of TYC employees had criminal records.

After news of the complaints spread, it seemed the TYC was in shambles.  The accusations made its facilities sound like hellish places for kids – places hardly able to provide the rehabilitation they had promised.

So last year, the Texas legislature demanded reforms.

To keep an eye on how those reforms were carried out, Governor Perry appointed Will Harrell.

“I was a strong critic of TYC, and I will continue to be,” Harrell said.

Harrell is a former Houstonian and champion of criminal justice reform.

And with his new post, Harrell has a full-access pass to all TYC facilities, their personnel and their records.

“Where there are humans, there will surely be human error. And you’ll continue to see that. You’ll also see cameras everywhere,” he said.

Officials hope the new level of transparency encourages victims of abuse to come forward.

A Houston child advocacy group recently quizzed teens locked up at the Giddings facility on their living conditions and treatment by staff members.

“I think they felt like the staff needs a lot of training. There’s still a lot of abuse going on, on part of the staff,” Robert Sanborn of Children at Risk said.

Sanborn said they didn’t see signs of sexual abuse, but inmates could be suffering some verbal abuse.

Valdez said he’s been the victim of harsh words himself.

“Basically I ran into a few bad staff that would curse you out and talk bad to you,” he said.

Critics blame the state for underfunding the TYC.  They claim budget problems led to high turnover and shortages of qualified guards and counselors.

But since the TYC reforms were initiated, officials say there’s been improvement.

Still, there have been proposals to shut down the entire system and give the responsibility of rehabilitating young criminals to the counties.

“Harris County is sending 600 kids a year into the Texas Youth Commission system – twice as many as Dallas. So are we doing the right things in Harris County?” Sanborn asked.

Valdez said the TYC was the right thing for him.  He said he’s not the violent teen he was five years ago when he got there.

Valdez expects to win his release from Giddings soon and return to Houston.

He said he plans on getting a job and leading a new life – a life free of drugs and guns.