IOWA CITY, Iowa, January 8, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A female prison guard at the maximum-security state prison in Fort Madison has filed a lawsuit against prison officials alleging that allowing prisoners to watch violent and sexually explicit movies and TV shows resulted in inmates sexually harassing her.
Correctional officer Kristine Sink also alleges that she faced discrimination and workplace retaliation from prison officials for complaining about movies that she said caused inmates to become sexually aggressive. The prison where Sink works houses murderers, sexual predators, and other violent offenders.
Prison records obtained by the Associated Press reveal that inmates were allowed to watch movies such as “Deranged,” a horror film that includes a scene in which a woman is beaten, raped, hung upside down and skinned. Other movies screened include “Delta of Venus,” “Coffey,” and “Cruel Intentions.”
Despite her complaints, Sink said prison officials told her not to turn off the movies, even though she witnessed inmates openly masturbating and was subject to sexually harassing comments during and following the movies.
Sink, who has worked at the prison for ten years under four different wardens, stated in her allegations that if she turned the movies off, prison officials would accuse her of insubordination. She added that one warden blamed her for causing the problems for herself by complaining, while another suggested that her clothing, which AP described as a standard-issue uniform, was enticing inmates to make sexual comments to her.
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Sink said she began complaining about sexually explicit content being shown to inmates soon after she began work at the prison in 2003, and filed a formal complaint with the administration in 2007 after the showing of “Deranged.”
She said that prison officials finally acted on her complaints in September 2011 by prohibiting most movies with sexually explicit content. This, she said, resulted in threats of violence and even death from prisoners, when her request for a transfer to a job where she would not be in contact with inmates was ignored.
“It’s inconceivable,” Sink told AP. “If I had not lived through it myself, I wouldn’t believe this.”
In her 2007 letter of complaint to then-Warden John Ault, Sink said, “What are we saying to the sex offenders that are already convicted of these crimes and then we provide them visual viewing to fantasize about or to act upon.”
She told Ault she has been waiting for prison administration “to fix this wrong and make it right for over four years.”
In his letter of response Ault told Sink he took “umbrage” with her allegations against prison officials and said “you, and you alone, have put yourself out there” by turning off the porn and complaining.
Sink’s lawyer, Brooke Timmer, said the lawsuit is aimed at forcing prison administration to create a workplace environment that is free from sexual harassment and threats of violence from inmates, and to allow employees to file complaints without fear of retaliation.
“No private employer could get away with this,” Timmer said.
Contact Info:
Iowa State Penitentiary – Fort Madison
Nick Ludwick, Warden
3 John Bennett Drive, PO Box 316
Fort Madison, IA 19720
Phone: (319) 372-5432
Fax: (319) 372-6967
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.doc.state.ia.us/Institutions.asp