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| Six accused in alleged jail sex assaults |
| By Washington Observer Reporter |
| Published: 03/29/2004 |
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A Butler County (Pa.) man, who was one of several inmates from the northern Pennsylvania county transferred to Greene County Jail because of overcrowding, claims he and his friend were sexually assaulted by other inmates last November. Six men, five from Butler County and one from Greene County, have been charged. The alleged victims, Jarrod Shoaf, 21, of Chicora, and Matthew Williams, 23, of Portersville, claim they were sexually assaulted Nov. 16 in the jail's "E" block, a garage converted into a jail dormitory that could hold 16 inmates. Williams, in a letter to the Observer-Reporter, said he is currently serving a 9 to 18-month sentence for receiving stolen property. He said he was sent to Greene County with seven other Butler County inmates on Oct. 31. Everything was fine, Williams said, until Nov. 11, when two other inmates from Butler County, whom he defined as "highly dangerous," were brought to Greene County and also placed in the E-block. The two joined up with seven other inmates. In a few days, they apparently became bored, Williams said. "They thought it would be fun to humiliate and torture some of the older and weaker inmates," Williams said. Members of the group would pour black pepper down an inmate's throat or rub depilatory cream in his hair while he was asleep, he said. Several times an inmate was stripped and hung by his feet from the shower curtain, Williams said. Williams said the only security in the block was a camera in one corner of the room that is activated by a motion sensor. At night, after head count, inmates would point the sensor to the ceiling so the camera wouldn't activate, he said. Williams also claimed inmates would go for hours without seeing an officer on the block. Warden Harry Gillispie said last Wednesday Williams' claim that the camera was operated by a sensor is wrong. "It is an encased, fixed camera and the activity in that room is monitored in a control room," he said. "It is never turned off." Also, the warden said a shift supervisor and three corrections officers were on duty that night and that a head count was conducted every two hours up to midnight and every half hour until 8 a.m. According to Williams, on Sunday, Nov. 16, after head count, about 1 a.m., a group of inmates attacked Shoaf, dragging him into the restroom and beating him until he stopped fighting back. They then pulled down Shoaf's pants and sexually assaulted him with a toothbrush, he said. Williams said he had heard Shoaf screaming and went to his aid. He pushed and pulled the men off Shoaf until they finally left the room. The men then, however, came after him, committing the same act on him that they had on Shoaf. Gillispie said, "If someone is screaming, we would be able to hear it. The jail is not soundproof," he said. Williams said he reported the incident to a deputy warden the next day and was moved to another block for safety. Shoaf was transported back to Butler that day. Gillispie acknowledged last Wednesday that the Greene County Prison Board authorized an expenditure of $7,000 to $9,000 for two additional cameras and a recording system that will record footage from all cameras in the jail. The case was investigated by Greene County Deputy Sheriff Dave Patterson. A preliminary hearing was held March 22 before District Justice Neil Canan. |
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