Private Corrections Institute, Inc.
February 2012

POLICY BRIEF
PRISONER RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN PRIVATE PRISONS
Introduction
Rape and sexual abuse of prisoners is an unfortunate reality at all correctional facilities, both
public and private. However, some research, as well as high-profile incidents and litigation,
indicates that sexual abuse may be more prevalent at privately-run prisons and jails.
This may be due to the business model of the private prison industry, which includes cutting
costs, particularly in the area of staffing, in order to generate profit. As a consequence, privatelyoperated facilities historically have had higher staff turnover rates than in the public sector. For
example, a December 2008 Senate Committee on Criminal Justice report to the Texas legislature
found that “During FY 2008 the correctional officer turnover rate at the seven private prisons
was 90 percent (60 percent for the five privately-operated state jails), which in either case is
higher than the 24 percent turnover rate for [state] correctional officers during FY 2008.” Higher
turnover rates contribute to understaffing at private facilities. For example, New Mexico fined
GEO Group $1.1 million in 2011 for understaffing the company’s Lea County Correctional
Facility; the staff vacancy rate was over 20% for 12 of the 14 months studied.
Privately-run facilities with high staff turnover and understaffing rates may experience higher
rates of sexual misconduct, as they have fewer experienced staff and lower staff-per-prisoner
ratios, which result in less effective oversight and monitoring of the inmate population.
Research
An August 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, titled
“Sexual Violence Reported by Correctional Authorities, 2006,” included data on sexual violence
reported at all state prison systems, 344 local jails and 46 privately-operated prisons and jails.
The study found that private facilities had a rate of sexual violence of 1.91 incidents per 1,000
prisoner population in 2006, compared with a rate of 1.50 in federal prisons and 3.75 in state
prisons. Thus, privately-operated facilities had a reported rate of sexual violence higher than
federal prisons but lower than state prisons.

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A June 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, titled “Sexual
Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2007,” found that of the 282 jails surveyed,
the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, operated by Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA), had the highest rate of sexual victimization. In Torrance County, 13.4% of the
prisoners surveyed reported an incident of sexual victimization – a rate more than four times the
national average of 3.2%. Torrance County also had the highest reported rate of staff-on-inmate
sexual victimization, at 7.0%, compared with a national average of 2.0%. CCA officials appeared
before the Review Panel on Prison Rape on September 30, 2008 to discuss the jail’s excessively
high rate of sexual victimization.
Notable Incidents
On March 30, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, issued a report on
the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi, operated by the GEO Group, Inc.
The report found, among other serious problems, that employees at the privately-operated facility
were “deliberately indifferent to staff sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior with youth.
Further, staff fails to report allegations of staff sexual abuse to supervisors and State officials, as
required by law.” The report further stated, “During our investigation, we found that staff sexual
misconduct with youth in their custody occurred on a monthly basis, at a minimum,” and the
facility had a “pervasive level of brazen staff sexual misconduct….”
In 2009, the State of Hawaii removed all of its female prisoners from CCA’s Otter Creek
Correctional Center in Kentucky following a sex scandal in which at least six CCA employees
were charged with rape or sexual misconduct, including the facility’s chaplain. The State of
Kentucky also removed its female prisoners, replacing them with male inmates. According to
news reports, CCA had failed to report at least one incident involving staff sexual misconduct.
The number of reported sexual assaults at Otter Creek in 2007 was four times higher than at the
state-run Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women. The sexual misconduct at Otter Creek
resulted in a number of lawsuits filed against CCA; in at least one case, CCA moved to dismiss
the lawsuit by claiming a female prisoner who had been sexually abused had not filed a formal
grievance with prison staff concerning the alleged incident.
Notable Litigation
In October 2011, the ACLU filed a class-action federal lawsuit against CCA on behalf of three
female immigration detainees who were sexually abused at the company’s T. Don Hutto Family
Residential Center in Texas by CCA guard Donald Dunn. Dunn had pleaded guilty to federal
charges of deprivation of the civil rights of a person in custody; he admitted touching female
immigration detainees “in a sexual manner” between December 2009 and May 2010, when he
transported them to a bus station or airport terminal in a prison van. He was sentenced to ten
months in federal prison. The lawsuit states that although CCA was required to follow ICE rules
that specified a female guard must accompany female prisoners, Dunn was repeatedly allowed
to transport the women he victimized without another guard present.

Private Corrections Institute, 1114 Brandt Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32308
850-980-0887 - www.PrivateCI.org

On February 16, 2012, a federal jury in New Mexico awarded $3 million to three female inmates
who were raped by Anthony Townes, a guard at the Camino Nuevo Women’s Correctional
Facility in 2007, which was operated by CCA at the time. The jury held CCA liable for negligent
supervision, and punitive damages were awarded against both Townes and CCA. Townes had
previously been convicted of rape and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
On December 5, 2011, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of former prisoner Tanya GuzmanMartinez, a transgender woman who was held at CCA’s Eloy Detention Center in Arizona when
she was sexually abused by CCA guard Justin Manford, who masturbated into a cup and then
“demanded that she ingest his ejaculated semen.” Manford was charged in June 2010 with
attempted unlawful sexual contact. The federal lawsuit also accuses CCA of failing to protect
Guzman-Martinez from a second sexual assault by another prisoner.
TransCor, a subsidiary of CCA, agreed to pay $5 million in 2002 to settle a lawsuit filed by two
prisoners, Cheryl Schoenfeld and Annette Jones, who were sexually abused by two TransCor
guards. One of the guards, Michael Jerome Edwards, forced Schoenfeld to expose her breasts
and perform oral sex, and penetrated her vaginally with a flashlight and gun barrel. Three other
prisoners testified that Edwards pulled over and threatened to shoot them, saying he would claim
they were trying to escape. Edwards had been accused of sexually assaulting a female prisoner
he transported a month earlier, but CCA claimed it had “misfiled” a complaint filed by that
prisoner. Edwards was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years.
Prison Litigation Reform Act
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was enacted by Congress in 2003 with the laudable
goal of reducing incidents of prisoner rape and sexual abuse. Proposed PREA standards were
developed by the National Prison Rape Elimination Act Commission, but have not yet been
promulgated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Although PREA contains some language related
to its applicability to privately-operated facilities, there is no direct enforcement mechanism to
ensure compliance with the standards by private prison companies. States that fail to comply
with the standards face the loss of 5% of their federal prison funding; however, there is no
comparable sanction for privately-operated facilities.
CCA’s general counsel, Gus A. Puryear IV, was a commissioner on the National Prison Rape
Elimination Act Commission, but missed half of the Commission’s eight public hearings.

The Private Corrections Institute (PCI) is a non-profit citizen watchdog organization that works
to educate the public about the significant dangers and pitfalls associated with the privatization
of correctional services. PCI maintains an online collection of news reports and other resources
related to the private prison industry, and holds the position that for-profit prisons have no place
in a free and democratic society. For more information: www.privateci.org.

Private Corrections Institute, 1114 Brandt Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32308
850-980-0887 - www.PrivateCI.org