Editor’s note: Any items that could identify the victim have been modified.
A lawsuit alleging neglect has been filed against Pecan Valley, MHMR, by Jane Doe, a former patient of the business, according to information released by her attorney.
Doe is a female victim residing in Erath County, who has connections to a former Pecan Valley employee Arran Spoede, 46. She is seeking monetary relief in the amount of $1 million.
“This lawsuit arises from, and is being filed to hold Defendants accountable for, the gross negligence, complete lack of care, and willful disregard of Pecan Valley, and the PV Contractors, which resulted in Doe suffering unimaginable acts of sexual molestation perpetrated on her by Pecan Valley’s Systems Administrator Arran Spoede,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of the 266 Judicial District.
Spoede was arrested and indicted on charges Dec. 14, 2022, on possession or promotion of child pornography and aggravated sexual assault of a child.
The arrest was made after the outcry from the victim Jane Doe, a 20 year-old female who had allegedly been sexually abused since the age of 12 by Spoede.
Spoede held his high ranking position for Pecan Valley for more than a decade.
“According to reports, authorities seized Pecan Valley’s Administrator’s cell phone – which was owned and issues by Pecan Valley – and sent the device to the U.S. Secret Service for forensic analysis. Reports state that the datastoredonthePecanValley owned and issued equipment depicted the administrator engaging in wrongful sexual intercourse with Doe and other unidentified females and that Doe was only 13 or 14 years old in one of the videos,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also alleges that the acts of sexual assault and molestation happened at Pecan Valley’s facility and were videoed, recorded, and/ or photographed – through the use of Pecan Valley owned and issued equipment in direct violation of Pecan Valley’s own policies and procedures.
Pecan Valley’s Executive Administrator Coke Beatty responded to the suit in a statement which said: “Law enforcement has made no allegations against Spoede related to any clients or patients at Pecan Valley. In fact, in September, when we were informed on a Friday of the possibility of criminal chargesbecauseof thefemale’s complaints, we immediately put Spoede on leave, and he was terminated the following Monday. Our hearts go out to the young woman who reported the ... abuse, but this decade of purported activity is completely unrelated and was absolutely unknown to the administrators at this facility. They are focused on patient care and treatment as well as upholding Pecan Valley’s mission.”
No other statements about this case will be released until the conclusion of the litigation, Beatty said.
The lawsuit also includes East Texas Behavioral Health Resources Inc., Red River Hospital, LLC and Avail Solutions, Inc. in addition to Pecan Valley Centers for Behavioral and Developmental Healthcare as the defendants.
“We have been informed there are more victims,” Attorney Rogge Dunn, of the Rogge Dunn Group, P.C. in Dallas, alleged. Dunn is representing Doe in the lawsuit.
“It definitely did happen there,” he alleged.
Dunn said the negligence lawsuit stems from him allegedly using company equipment for the crime and that there were allegedly no safe guards being put in place.
“It’s something they should have caught. They knew or should have known something was amiss,” he alleged. “This is every parent’s worst nightmare. You think you send them to a place to get better and they are abused. A sexual predator preys on them at one of the worst times in their life.”
If or when more victims are identified, they will either be able to join the lawsuit or file one of their own, Dunn explained. This could alter the amount of damages being sought.
Pecan Valley Centers provides a variety of behavioral healthcare service to persons with mental illness, intellectual and developmental disability, as well as alcohol and chemical dependency. Their service area includes residents in Erath, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, and Somervell Counties, according to their website.