`Fight club' Probed At Home For The Mentally Handicapped

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) -- Seven employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled have been suspended for allegedly staging a "fight club" among residents.

Corpus Christi Police Captain Tim Wilson says the fight clubs were uncovered when someone gave an off-duty police officer a cell phone containing videos of fights at the Corpus Christi State School.

Wilson says the videos show mentally disabled adult clients punching, shoving, and striking each other while the employees watch.

Wilson calls the abuse "appalling." He says police expect to file charges against several employees by the end of the week.

The school opened in 1970 and is home to about 360 people, according to the Web site of the state Department of Aging and Disability Services.