Ex-Inmates Say Prison Sex Abuse Rampant

Forbes
By BRENT KALLESTAD
AP
06/22/06

Former inmate Ashley Turner was not surprised to hear that investigators had raided a federal prison to arrest guards accused of having sex with inmates. She said she was pressured by guards at the same facility.

Wednesday's raid set off a deadly shootout when one of the guards pulled a handgun on federal agents. But the confrontation also raised new questions about whether men should be assigned to guard women's facilities.

Turner said she never had sex with the guards at the Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution, but they coerced her to strip and touch herself sexually. She said other inmates would have sex with guards in exchange for cell phones, money and marijuana.

The sex-for-contraband scheme had been going on for years, she said, and involved more than the six guards who were indicted.

"That list should probably be three times longer," said Turner, who was released in 2004 after serving slightly more than three years for bank fraud. "These are just the ones who hung around long enough to get arrested."