Prison Rapes 'Routine'
by Joanne Wasserman, Daily News Staff Writer
Originally published by the New York Daily News, January 28, 2003
Female inmates are routinely raped and sexually abused by guards in New York's state prisons—and two women have become pregnant, according to a lawsuit to be filed today in Manhattan Federal Court.
In the court papers, the Legal Aid Society names 15 women—many of them originally from New York City—who charge they were sexually abused by 10 correction officers.
Three of the guards allegedly abused more than one woman at upstate prisons such as Albion, Taconic and Bedford Hills. Many of the officers are still employed in the prisons, the suit contends.
The suit also charges that the women suffer retaliation from prison staff for reporting allegations of sexual abuse.
The suit, filed against the state Correctional Services Department, accuses the department of turning "a blind eye to the abuser and coerced prostitution of prisoners under their care."
It claims the agency's investigation of sexual misconduct is "grossly inadequate" and allows "sexual misconduct to continue virtually unabated."
Most charges of sexual misconduct are dismissed, the suit charges, unless the woman has "physical proof of sexual contact, i.e. semen or proof of pregnancy"—even when there are witnesses.
Investigators even routinely advise women to continue sexual activity with their abusers in order to obtain semen as evidence, the suit says.
The lawsuit also alleges that in one case, a correction officer at Albion Correctional Facility assigned to the mess hall engaged in "unlawful physical contact" with two female inmates starting in 1999 and continuing through June 2001.
When one of the women complained to prison officials, she was told that she "fit the criteria for the women prisoners [the officer] likes," the suit says.
The other woman was allegedly told the guard was "untouchable and too smart" and no action could be taken against him. The guard is still employed at Albion and "continues to work in the mess hall."
The lawsuit also says that a female inmate at Taconic Correctional Facility says she was raped by a guard and became pregnant—and that the officer was criminally charged as a result of the incident.
After she filed her complaint, the woman had an abortion and was then transferred over her objection to a prison farther from her home.
"As a result, she is not able to visit with her children," the suit states.
A department spokesman declined comment last night.
