A report by Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT) found major “systemic failures” by the Department of Correction (DOC) that have allowed for the continued sexual abuse of women with documented mental illness by staff at York Correctional Institute in Niantic, Connecticut’s only women’s prison.
Over a four-year investigation, DRCT found DOC officials failed to eliminate “blind spots” in the prison’s security system that allowed guards to sexually abuse inmates, a failure to protect women from sexual abuse by staff, and a lack of “timely and comprehensive sexual abuse incident reviews,” according to the report.
The report also documented nine DOC staff members who have either been terminated, forced to resign, placed on leave, or not allowed contact with prisoners due to sexual abuse or “undue familiarity” with incarcerated women since 2020, and three officers who were convicted for sexual assault or received accelerated rehabilitation in 2015 for abusing the same inmate.
“DRCT’s review of the DOC’s investigations into sexual abuse allegations identified several allegations and substantiated misconduct against correctional officers. Some of these allegations include staff sexual misconduct by one staff member against multiple prisoners. Many of these incidents occurred during the third shift when staffing levels are reduced,” the report states.
According to DRCT’s findings, three correctional officers are currently being investigated; four were convicted of sexual assault related charges; two others were charged but granted pretrial diversionary programs; two were investigated but never charged and subsequently resigned, and DOC terminated one other officer.
State statute indicates that it is second degree sexual assault when an individual “engages in sexual intercourse” with another individual when “such other person is in custody of law or detained in a hospital or other institution and the actor has supervisory or disciplinary authority over such other person.” Additionally, the report notes, sexual abuse by correction officers could amount to a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which requires prisons to protect inmates from harm and take reasonable measures to ensure their safety.
The report also found that DOC failed to complete sexual abuse incident reviews for five out of seven substantiated incidents and only six of twenty-eight unsubstantiated incidents, one of which was completed nearly four years after the incident had occurred, despite policy dictating incident reviews be completed within thirty days.
DRCT spent years identifying victims, interviewing them, touring the grounds and researching the incidents; the report includes detailed and graphic summaries of their interviews with female inmates, whose names are mostly withheld.
Those interviews recount some female inmates with documented mental illness engaging in sexual relationships with guards in various locations, with the incarcerated women occasionally believing they were in a romantic relationship with the DOC staff member; multiple staff members taking advantage of the same woman; and a guard removing a woman from her cell in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom where he “made” her touch him.
“When asked why she did not tell Officer #3 to stop these behaviors or report them to staff, Jane Doe #4 stated she laughed it off because these behaviors were part of the DOC culture,” the report states. “The DOC did not investigate the information that Jane Doe #4 provided and failed to interview witnesses.” The officer, at the time, was on workers compensation leave and later retired. He was never interviewed by DOC.
Connecticut DOC is required to abide by federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards in order to received federal funding, which ensures “prisons and jails must adhere to a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual abuse and harassment of inmates and detainees,” and facilities are “mandated to supervise and monitor their facilities to develop and document adequate staffing levels and video monitoring,” the report states.
Among the systemic failures by DOC in preventing the sexual abuse of incarcerated women by staff are the blind spots in York’s camera system, including mop closets and the “officer’s bubble,” which DOC has been aware of since 2016 and has been the location of several sexual abuse incidents by staff. DOC officials determined these blind spots could be eliminated with a $354,000 investment in additional cameras and camera upgrades, but have not yet done so.
“This report contains very serious findings and allegations against the Department of Correction. One of the utmost priorities of the Department needs to be ensuring the safety and wellness of all those within our facilities – incarcerated persons, DOC staff, and visitors,” said Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield. “I plan on meeting with DOC leadership to review the contents of this report and verify that the Department is and will be taking the remedial steps necessary to prevent abuses in all of our facilities, particularly at York.”
DRCT’s report comes following a report published by Hearst that the Attorney General’s Office under William Tong is attempting to victim-blame Lashanda Gregory, an inmate at York, who is attempting to sue the state for sexual assault, by claiming that she was a “willing participant” in the sexual assault incidents.
Gregory’s incidents are outlined in DRCT’s report, which shows two officers engaged in sexual acts with Gregory, allegedly on multiple occasions in the mop closet area during the night shift. Both officers resigned and one, Michael Mabry, was convicted of sexual assault in the second degree; the other officer, Bobby Wilson, was not convicted.
DRCT issued recommendations to ensure accountability and oversight, including adding additional cameras to eliminate the blind spots, require quarterly reporting of sexual abuse or harassment incidents and allegations to the Correctional Ombudsman, expand state statute to ensure DOC employees and contractors who are not in a supervisory role over inmates can be charged with second degree sexual assault in these situations, and increase the mandatory penalty for second degree sexual assault.
“Although agency administrators are still reviewing the final version of the report, the Connecticut Department of Correction has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault/sexual harassment of any individual under its supervision,” wrote DOC Public Information Officer Andrius Banevicius in an email. “The agency’s Prison Rape Elimination Act Unit thoroughly and objectively investigates allegations of sexual abuse in accordance with Federal standards. If allegations of abuse are substantiated, violators are subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment and/or criminal prosecution.”
“DRCT is calling on the state legislature to increase the mandatory penalty for convictions of sexual assault in the second degree from nine months to two years, and revise current statutory language to include DOC employees and contractors that do not have supervisory or disciplinary authority over incarcerated individuals for both sexual assault in the second and fourth degrees,” the press release states.
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