Gomez v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF EL PASO
Appellants Elsa Gomez and Jose Ramiro Gomez sued the Housing Authority (HACEP) and apartment manager Lupe Armstrong after their children were sexually molested at a housing project by Enrique Martinez, a non-tenant with a criminal record. They alleged HACEP's inadequate screening procedures and deliberate indifference violated their children's constitutional rights to bodily integrity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The trial court granted HACEP's plea to the jurisdiction. The appellate court affirmed, concluding that Appellants failed to establish that Armstrong or her supervisors had final policymaking authority, identify an official municipal policy that was the 'moving force' behind the constitutional violation, or demonstrate a constitutional violation by a state actor, as the molestation was by a private individual and no special relationship imposing a duty to protect was proven.