In the US state of Indiana, prison inmates have filed a lawsuit against a guard who allegedly gave male inmates access to their cells. The women were sexually harassed and two of them were raped, according to the complaint. The prison guard is said to have given the male inmates the key to the women’s cells for $1,000.
“Although many male inmates were involved and there were several dozen victims, not a single warden came to the aid of the women,” says the lawsuit, which describes a “night of horror.” The male inmates were free to roam the Jeffersonville detention center for several hours. They groped women, undressed them and made lewd remarks. According to the US website “Law
In the end, the women detainees were punished by leaving the lights on for 72 hours and confiscating personal belongings. The accused jailer said in an interview with the Washington Post that the men stole the keys. He only found out about it days later. He has since been released, according to “Law
One of the plaintiffs’ lawyers told the site that a woman became pregnant as a result of a rape. However, she later suffered a miscarriage. Another victim suffered severe mental health problems.
The lawsuit is also directed against the responsible sheriff, who did not prevent the crime. His attorney released a statement describing the events as “the unpredictable criminal acts of a rogue correctional officer,” according to the New York Times.
The prosecution alleges that the sheriff failed to properly staff the prison, properly train staff, and fail to oversee the prison. “These systemic flaws allowed numerous male attackers to roam freely within the prison for several hours, leading to a night of horror for the plaintiffs and other victims,” ??the filing reads.
The accused sheriff was named “Sheriff of the Year” in 2021, according to a report by local broadcaster WBIW. The affected jail is also part of a reality TV show called 60 Days In, in which volunteers are being held covertly as inmates for 60 days.
