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February 26, 2005
CO: Sex, contraband in Private Prison for Women
Casper Star Tribune Friday, February 25, 2005
By The Associated Press
DENVER (AP) -- The warden of the privately run Brush Correctional Facility for Women has resigned and five officers face sexual misconduct and contraband charges.
Warden Rick Soares quit Tennessee-based GRW, which owns the 250-bed prison in Brush, on Feb. 18, said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the state corrections department. The warden was not implicated in any wrongdoing.
The facility, which became the first private prison for women in Colorado in August 2003, holds 80 inmates from Hawaii, 73 from Colorado and 45 from Wyoming.
The corrections department referred contraband allegations involving two staff members and one inmate and sexual misconduct allegations involving three staff members to District Attorney Robert Watson on Thursday.
Three officers had sex with four Hawaiian inmates, two Colorado inmates and one Wyoming inmate, Morgan said. Two of the officers have resigned and a third is on administrative leave.
Some of the women say they were raped, but investigators concluded the sex was consensual and sometimes was initiated by inmates, Morgan said. Having sex with inmates is a felony offense for correctional officers.
She said some Hawaiian and Wyoming inmates acknowledged they had sex with the guards because they believed they would be returned home, where they would be closer to relatives.
As for the contraband allegations, Morgan said two officers and an inmate were caught sneaking tobacco into the prison on the plains of northeastern Colorado.
The Department of Corrections is sending 20 experts to train and mentor Brush prison officers for the next 30 days, she said.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/news/wyoming/613d3e097c73fe0887256fb30045d313.txt
Posted by lois at February 26, 2005 10:31 AM