Extent of Inmate Sex Abuse Unknown
By EUN-KYUNG KIM, AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - The extent and frequency of federal and state prison guards'
sexual abuse of female prisoners cannot be determined because prisons fail to keep good
records of such assaults, a federal audit found.
``None of the four jurisdictions we studied had readily available, comprehensive
data or reports on the number, nature and outcomes of staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct
allegations,'' said the report, which was released Wednesday. ``While the data indicate
that staff sexual misconduct occurs, the full extent of the problem is unknown.''
The report is the first to examine the phenomenon, said Eleanor Holmes Norton,
the District of Columbia's nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives.
Norton requested the survey from the Government Accounting Office, the
investigative branch of Congress. The agency studied the three largest prison
jurisdictions, California, Texas and the federal Bureau of Prisons, because they house
more than a third of the nation's 80,000 female inmates.
The District of Columbia's correction system also was examined because it has
had ``nationally notorious problems of sexual abuse by correctional personnel,'' Norton
said. The report said that ``many correctional experts believe that staff-on-inmate
sexual misconduct is likely underreported nationally.''
Most states, 41 and the District of Columbia, have laws criminalizing sexual
abuse of prison inmates. However, without comprehensive information ``it remains unclear
the extent to which laws are routinely enforced and policies and procedures are
followed,'' the report said.
From 1995 to 1998, 506 female inmates from Texas, California and federal prisons
reported sexual abuse by corrections staff. Only 92 of those reports, or 18 percent,
resulted in a resignation, termination or disciplinary action, the report said. The
District of Columbia had 111 such allegations from December 1995 to June 1998. Of those,
12 resulted in disciplinary actions or resignations.
Officials in the four regions said so few allegations were substantiated because
of a lack of medical or other physical evidence. Another reason cited was false claims
made in attempts to ``manipulate the system and victimize staff.''
Donna Christensen, a delegate to Congress from the U.S. Virgin Islands, said she
believes there are far more authentic, and unreported, allegations than those made up.
``It is difficult to believe that women who are at the mercy and control of the
facility personnel would risk their ire by bringing false allegations,'' she said.
All four regions reviewed have, or were in the process of developing, staff
sexual misconduct policies, the report found. Only the federal Bureau of Prisons
reported criminal prosecutions with convictions stemming from sexual misconduct by staff
members, the report said. Each of the four jurisdictions reported at least two civil
lawsuits related to such misconduct. Daniel Dunne, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman, said all
allegations are taken seriously. Employees at its 94 federal prisons are told that
``engaging in sexual misconduct risks everything, they risk their careers and they risk
their freedom.''
Last year, the BOP disciplined 10 prison employees for sexual misconduct; seven
were prosecuted, he said.
