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| Alleged Pa. prison abuse shakes push for professionalism |
| By therepublic.com - PAULA REED WARD and RICH LORD |
| Published: 10/04/2011 |
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The arrest last week of a corrections officer at Pittsburgh's state prison -- and the information that as many as 11 additional employees could be criminally charged -- is viewed by many in the industry as a blow against two decades worth of efforts to professionalize the image of corrections. Harry Nicoletti, 59, of Coraopolis, Pa., is charged with 92 counts of physically and sexually abusing the inmates on F block -- the intake pod for the State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh. The affidavit of probable cause against Nicoletti spells out in graphic detail acts of depravity, such as forcing inmates to urinate and put mouse feces in other inmates' food; violent sexual assaults; and manipulation and threats. Nicoletti had worked in the prison for 10 years before he was suspended in January. Experts wonder why it took at least two years of alleged abuse before the allegations were investigated by the state Department of Corrections and eventually charged by the Allegheny County district attorney's office. But they also understand the environment corrections officers work in, and the thin line they must negotiate every day between authority and abuse. Read More. |
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