The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, as well as the mistreatment of transgender women, at a women's prison unit near Newport.
The federal agency received "numerous allegations" concerning multiple McPherson Unit staff members engaging in intercourse and other sexual acts with prisoners, exchanging commissary money for sexual favors and inappropriately watching prisoners while they showered or changed clothes, a Justice Department news release said.
Allegations also concerned staff members taking photos or video for "reasons unrelated to correctional goals," the release said.
"Staff sexual abuse of prisoners violates the constitutional rights of prisoners, undermines prison safety and security and can lead to other crimes," the head of the agency's Civil Rights Division, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, said in the release.
"This investigation furthers the Justice Department's goal of zero-tolerance for sexual abuse and sexual harassment in our nation's jails and prisons. We hope to work cooperatively with the state of Arkansas in conducting our inquiry and ensuring that prisoners in its custody are not being sexually abused."
J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, said the governor would comment on the matter today.
Arkansas Department of Correction Chief Counsel Jim DePriest said Thursday that the department is taking the allegations very seriously and will act "immediately" to address the situation.
Correction Department spokesman Cathy Frye said the investigation is linked to a December complaint concerning a "former staff member." Frye declined to name the former staff member or the position that person held, but said additional information would be released today.
"In December, we notified the Arkansas State Police of the allegations, and they then opened an investigation," Frye said. "It is our understanding that it was turned over to the prosecuting attorney in April."
Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce said Thursday that he is reviewing evidence in the case to see if charges are warranted, but he could not comment further because the investigation is ongoing.
The investigation is being conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which authorizes the department to investigate prisons or jails when there appears to be a pattern or practice of violating prisoners' constitutional rights.
"As the investigation moves forward, the department will work to determine whether McPherson prisoners are subjected to a pattern or practice of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct in violation of their constitutional rights," the news release said.
Aspects of Arkansas' prison system were found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge in 1970 and remained under federal monitoring until 1982.
The Justice Department has in particular previously scrutinized the McPherson Unit, which can house up to 807 women, according to the Correction Department's website. A 2003 Justice Department report said conditions at the McPherson Unit, as well as the nearby Grimes Unit for men, were "unconstitutional."
Investigators at the time said they found numerous problems that amounted to inadequate medical care and unsafe living conditions. The report gave examples such as inmates suffering from such chronic illnesses as diabetes and HIV who did not receive regular testing of their conditions, and prison staff not attempting to identify women in need of mental-health care.
In 2008, a report by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics said Arkansas inmates were more than twice as likely to be the victims of a substantiated instance of sexual abuse or harassment than state and federal prisoners nationwide.
That year, Arkansas prison authorities substantiated 13 instances of sexual victimization. Six of the substantiated instances were from sexual activity between staff members and inmates. The category includes sex acts between staff members and inmates, as well as staff members who solicit sex from inmates or expose themselves to the inmates.
A January 2014 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Survey of Sexual Violence in Adult Correctional Facilities from 2009-11 showed 11 substantiated cases out of 28 complaints in Arkansas' state and federal prisons, five of which concerned staff violations regarding inmates.
Information for this article was contributed by Kenneth Heard of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
State Desk on 06/12/2015