Teacher raped by sex offender prison inmate reaches settlement
PHOENIX -- An Arizona teacher who was left alone in a prison classroom and then raped by a convicted sex offender has reached a settlement in her lawsuit accusing corrections officials of failing to protect her.
The teacher's 2014 lawsuit didn't specify damages sought, but she previously filed a claim seeking $4 million. Her attorney, Scott Zwillinger, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The settlement notice didn't specify the terms of the agreement, and Attorney General Mark Brnovich tells The Associated Press a confidentiality provision bars him from discussing the deal.
Jacob Harvey was sentenced to life in prison this year after pleading guilty to the rape. He was in the first year of a 30-year term for a previous rape when he assaulted the teacher.
The attack occurred Jan. 30, 2014, at the Eyman state prison in Florence, Ariz. The teacher was administering a high school equivalency test, but no guards were posted nearby and only a radio was left for the teacher, in case she needed to summon help.
When the other inmates left, Harvey attacked the teacher, stabbing her in the head with a pen, forcing her to the ground and raping her, she later told investigators.