January 8, 1993

State prison officials vow not to tolerate abuse of inmates

Misconduct: Administrators promise stricter action, but say the problem is not widespread

By Eric Freedman / The Detroit News

LANSING -- State prison officials Thursday vowed aggressive action against guards and other employees for sexual misconduct and harassment of inmates, but said there is no widespread problem.

"This department simply does not tolerate any manner of sex abuse, harassment of sexual contact between employees and inmates," Corrections Director Kenneth McGinnis said. "This department has zero tolerance for such behavior."

McGinnis said several incidents of improper conduct between male employees and female inmates have been verified at the state's two women's prisons, Scott Correctional Facility in Plymouth and Florence Crane Correctional Facility in Coldwater.

The department also has punished male and female guards for sexual misconduct with inmates at men's prisons, he said.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office said Thursday it has charged Corrections Officer David Rose with criminal sexual conduct for his alleged liaison with a Scott inmate. According to the complaint, the inmate consented to the sexual activity. The charge carries a maximum two-year sentence.

Corrections officials made the statements following a report in The Detroit News on Wednesday that some female inmates are planning a class action lawsuit against the state, alleging "a pattern of male guards assaulting women prisoners" and a "hostile environment."

The report said a state Senate committee is looking into similar complaints.

McGinnis took issue with a part of the report that discussed employees dismissed for "over-familiarity" with inmates, claiming that unfairly implied sexual abuse and harassment was widespread.

The state has fired 90 employees for "over-familiarity" with inmates since 1986, but only 11 cases involved guards who had sex with inmates, Corrections spokesman Warren Williams said Thursday. Of those, seven were men.

Most "over-familiarity" cases involved such violations as giving cigarettes to an inmate, writing explicit love letters to a female inmate describing sexual liaisons, or accepting collect phone calls at home from an inmate.

Fred Parks, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization, said sexual misconduct was alleged in only three of 29 disciplinary cases defended by his union in the past five years.

Those cases involved a male officer and female inmate; a male officer and a male inmate; and a female officer and female inmate, he said.

Joan Yukins, warden at Scott prison, said the department has improved training programs and tightened rules to avoid problems.

Yukins issued a memo prohibiting employees from carrying condoms on the job after a routine check found one in a civilian employee's wallet. It already was illegal for inmates to have condoms.

Carrying condoms at work is improper because of a public perception of misconduct. "We are certainly under the microscope," she said.

Administrative and union officials said inmates frequently file frivolous complaints against guards. Those complaints often are retaliation after inmates are disciplined or a guard breaks up gay or lesbian liaisons among prisoners, they said.

"It's a way to get back at them," said Parks, the union president. "In a women's prison, one of the best ways to retaliate is to say 'he touched me inappropriately' or 'he raped me.'"

About 2,000 of Michigan's 35,000 inmates are women; 22 percent of the state's 7,300 corrections officers are women.