LINCOLN, Illinois, February 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Yet another scandal has erupted over the placement of “transgender female” inmates being incarcerated alongside women, this time involving multiple rape allegations after a judge forced the male inmate to be placed with women.
WTTW reports that a Jane Doe inmate at Illinois’ Logan Correctional Center filed a federal lawsuit last week against officials with the state Department of Corrections (IDOC) for allegedly allowing her to be sexually assaulted by Andre Patterson, a male inmate who identifies as a woman under the name Janiah Monroe, last year.
The suit claims that following the attack, which the state allegedly covered up with a “sham investigation,” she was coerced into recanting, then punished for filing a “false” report. They did this, the suit contends, to “justify the transfers” of “transgender inmates from male to female prisons,” which “has been a contentious policy within IDOC.”
IDOC is so far not responding to press inquiries about the case, but Alan Mills, who heads the Chicago-based Uptown People’s Law Center and has represented Patterson, did respond. He suggested that the complaint is “without merit” because the “Department of Corrections investigated this incident and found that it was consensual sex, not rape.” The suit argues that that determination was part of the cover-up.
“Since Ms. [sic] Monroe was transferred to Logan, she’s [sic] made a lot of friends and has found substantial support among other prisoners and some staff,” Mills continued. “But transphobia exists everywhere, both out here on the street and in prison, so it’s not surprising that there are some people who feel uncomfortable with her [sic] presence in a women’s prison.”
Yet the Illinois Times reports that Dr. William Puga, head of psychiatry for IDOC, testified that of the multiple rape accusations directed at Patterson, “some were false but many were legitimate.” Puga further testified that Patterson — who has not had his genitals mutilated or removed — ceased hormone treatments upon arriving at the women’s prison.
Nevertheless, U.S. District Court judge Nancy Rosenstengel ordered that IDOC provide hormones to “trans” inmates, and U.S. District Court judge Michael Mihm barred IDOC from transferring Patterson to a male facility without showing necessity.
Logan correctional warden Glen Austin testified in a deposition that Patterson has been a generally troublesome inmate.
“Multiple tickets, serious infractions, previous PREA [Prison Rape Elimination Act] allegations, inappropriate sexual behavior and a confirmed investigation that substantiated sexual misconduct,” he said. “Her [sic] actions here at the facility, I think with her [sic] history, to me it is very concerning. I don’t think that — so, the answer is no, I don’t think that [Patterson’s] transitioning to Logan has been successful.”
There has been growing concern in both the United States and the United Kingdom over placing men who claim to be women in female prison populations. A record number of male inmates in England and Wales claim to be female, a subject that has garnered controversy partly due to cases like that of Stephen Wood, who assaulted four female inmates after being housed in a women’s facility as “Karen White.” Canada and Scotland have also seen cases of male prisoners claiming “transgender” status in order to secure lighter treatment during their incarceration.
Nevertheless, politicians such as Massachusetts senator and Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren have declared that Americans “have to stop putting trans women [meaning men] who are incarcerated into prisons with men where they are at risk.”