Report: Prison Worker Sex Abuse Up Sharply

(AP)  Accusations of sexual abuse at the hands of federal prison workers doubled in the past eight years, according to a new government report released Thursday.

Justice Department inspector general Glenn Fine found that claims made against Bureau of Prisons staff members increased dramatically from 2001 to 2008. Claims of sexual misconduct more than doubled, rising 130 percent in the same period.

According to the findings, female prison workers had a disproportionately higher percentage of accusations against them, yet those women who were convicted were less likely to serve time behind bars.

The inspector general is recommending that the bureau update its training and consider alternatives to automatically transferring or isolating prisoners who make such allegations. The report also recommends that the U.S. Marshals Service create new policies for preventing and reporting sexual abuse of prisoners in its custody.

About half of the claims of prison staff sex abuse were made against guards, while nearly 9 percent were made against food service workers in the prisons.

In the 2001 budget year, there were 76 allegations of criminal sex abuse, while in 2008 there were 155. Over that same time period, prison staff increased only 5 percent, and inmate population 27 percent, so the growth of the prison system does not account for the surge of sex allegations.

Bureau of Prisons officials told investigators the increase is due to a greater emphasis on encouraging people to report such abuse.

The Bureau of Prisons holds about 171,000 inmates at 93 different prison sites around the country.

A 2007 government study of all the nation's prisons, including state-run facilities, found that more than 60,000 inmates are sexually abused every year. The study found that 4.5 percent of those surveyed reported being sexually abused in the previous 12 months.

The study also said that more prisoners reported abuse by staff than by other prisoners: 2.9 percent to about 2 percent, respectively.

[culturechang]

The prison system in the US is highly stressed today and not because of higher crime rates. The FBI just reported crime has fallen below the all time lows from the beginning of historical records in 1973. Quite simply the modern fad of criminalization of everything has created this.

For example, the FBI sent 175 agents in to raid massage parlors for prostitution in my city. There were only 8 parlors. The operators/owners have been held without bond for 2.5 years and without trial. The US attorneys were clear that no force or restraint was used on the victims. Basically, they are holding defendants without trial or bond for operating a brothel that would be legal in Nevada.

This is happending throughout the federal judicialy system as a result of hyterical legislation development over anything sex.

[tmittelstaed]

What matters is the number of convictions not the number of accusations. These are prisoners. Many of them have big chips on their shoulders against authority - that's why they are in prison in the first place. Furthermore, keep in mind that the criminals that are in prison are the FAILURES - the smart criminals don't get caught and so aren't in prison. It is to be expected that they will use any method at their disposal to take revenge against a guard - including making false accusations.

Modern prisons have cameras everywhere, so it's usually pretty easy to catch the guards engaged in this kind of behavior. An increase in accusations simply means that since prison authorities have made it easier to report abuse, they have just handed the prisoners another way to cause trouble for the guards. Each accusation needs to be investigated so when one is made, the prisoner has the satisfaction of knowing that they have caused the prison authorities more work to do. Certainly, some accusations are true but I would have a hard time believing that all are.

[hologram5]

They must all be conservatives showing their fine "Family" values. Just like the idiot in CA that didn't even apologize for what he did. Only that his dialog distracted his coworkers.