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| Reports of Abuse at Florida Girls' Prison Prompt Review |
| By Orlando Sentinel |
| Published: 06/27/2003 |
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A few pieces of candy for a few suggestive words. An extra phone call for a pat on the bottom. The chance to escape the oppressive confines of a jail cell for a little fondling. That's the give-and-take between some officers and inmates at the Florida Institute for Girls, the state's only maximum-security prison for serious female juvenile delinquents. In response to reports of rampant sexual activity between workers and inmates at a facility hailed as a last rehabilitative resort for the state's most troubled delinquents, Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer has called for a grand jury investigation into the prison west of West Palm Beach. Workers have been accused of sexual misconduct more than two dozen times since the prison opened in April 2000. At least 15 workers have been disciplined in connection with those incidents. Two workers have been criminally charged. Administrators from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and Ramsay Youth Services, the private company paid by the state the run the prison, declined to comment recently, saying they have not been formally notified of any investigation. The grand jury investigation is a move some of the girls say is long overdue. 'I couldn't really rely on anybody,' one 17-year-old former inmate said of the staff at the prison. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not disclosing the girl's name because she is a minor. 'How can they teach me something when they're doing something wrong?' Juvenile justice experts say consensual or forced sexual contact between workers and inmates not only is inappropriate and illegal, but psychologically devastating. 'It perpetuates that that's how you deal with people, you deal with them sexually,' said Tom Verdi, clinical director at the Community Assessment Program in Springfield, Mass., which works with juvenile delinquents. National studies show that more than 90 percent of delinquent girls have been victims of sexual or physical abuse. Jacqueline Layne, the prison's director, said she believes 70 percent to 80 percent of her facility's girls have suffered some type of sexual trauma prior to incarceration. These are girls, the experts say, who have learned from a young age that sex equals power. These are girls who have turned to drugs and alcohol after their self-esteem and self-worth were shattered by abuse. Rather than healing their wounds, some girls say, a stint at the prison only validates their tainted view of life. DJJ Regional Director Darryl Olson said the staff has been trained to avoid compromising situations with inmates. |
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