GLENWOOD, Iowa. (KMTV) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, along with the Iowa Department of Human Services director Kelly Garcia ,toured the Glenwood Resource Center to check in with staff and residents in the midst of a Department of Justice investigation.
The DOJ continues to investigate allegations of 'sexual arousal' studies and human experiments at the Iowa institution, a facility that cares for people with severe intellectual disabilities.
"From the very beginning we said this is not acceptable and we need to make changes and we're in the process of doing that," Reynolds said.
Dr. Jerry Rea, the former Glenwood superintendent and the man implicated in these allegations, has been fired during this investigation.
Rea is accused of performing human experiments, including ones about sexual arousal on residents.
Before being hired at Glenwood in 2017, he worked at a care facility in Kansas.
An outdated bio page at Lifespan Institute at Parsons highlights his interests in "assessment and treatment of deviant sexual behavior in persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities."
DHS director Kelly Garcia says the she is working alongside the DOJ's investigation and in the meantime is making other changes at the facility.
She has had new doctors visit to care for the unique needs of the roughly 250 people at Glenwood.
According to Garcia, a technical expert is also slowly implementing new policies and procedures. She hopes this transition is smooth, so residents are not disrupted.
"I mean they are happy, as the governor said. I don't want them to know that changes are happening," Garcia said. "That's really more communication in the management structure back to equipping folks who are right there working with our residents everyday to do their jobs."
Those changes are still in the works and have not been fully implemented, according to Garcia.
Reynolds said the residents and staff she talked with are happy and content at the Glenwood facility.
As for the investigation, it's ongoing and no charges have been filed, yet.
