Sexual Abuse Behind Bars: Guards Assault Female Inmates.
Melvin Claxton and others.
- Detroit News, 2005.
- SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Article 75, Institutions, 1522-3256; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Originally Published: Sexual Abuse Behind Bars: Guards Assault Female Inmates, May 22, 2005; pp. 1A+.
"Three years before prison guard Edmond Hook sexually assaulted and impregnated inmate T'Nasa Harris, officials at the Camp Brighton facility near Pinckney received an anonymous letter claiming he was a 'sexual predator.' Four months after Michigan Department of Corrections officials got the letter, 18 women complained that Hook leered at them in the shower or groped them during pat downs. Corrections officials made no effort to closely monitor Hook. These incidents came as the U.S. Justice Department was suing the state for failing to address conditions that allowed female prisoners to be sexually abused by guards. On May 25, 1999--the day the state settled that suit and promised major reforms to better protect inmates--Hook was admonished to 'exercise better judgment in dealing with females.' Eight months later, Hook forced inmate Tiffany Gilmore to touch his genitals. The next month, he sexually assaulted Harris, 29, a mother of three." (DETROIT NEWS AND FREE PRESS) This article addresses Michigan's "continuing failure to protect female prisoners from sexual abuse by guards despite its agreement with the Justice Department," revealing that "the number of sexual abuse complaints since 2000 is slightly higher than in the years before the federal government sued Michigan."
1522-3256;
Correctional personnel Prison administration Prisoners--Crimes against Sex crimes Women prisoners