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| Inmate charged with sexually assaulting prison employee |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/05/2003 |
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The Iowa Attorney General's office has filed felony third-degree sexual abuse charges against a Mount Pleasant state prison inmate accused of sexually assaulting a female staff member. Phillip Stillman, 34, also is accused of interference with official acts. Stillman is serving time for attempted murder. Prison spokesman Fred Scaletta on Wednesday said Stillman, who will be arraigned Dec. 15, has been transferred to the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Martin Frazer, a correctional officer and union leader at the Mount Pleasant medium-security prison, said Wednesday many prison employees are worried about their safety because of state budget reductions. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2995 has filed a grievance against state officials, alleging prison staffing levels are unsafe. Prosecutors allege the sexual assault occurred April 19. The victim was a woman who has since left the Iowa Department of Corrections. The case has been under investigation since April by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Physical assaults on Iowa prison employees --- ranging from being hit with a fist to being spit at --- aren't unusual, Scaletta said. Sexual assaults, though, are rare, he added. Stillman entered prison after being convicted of the 1991 robbery of a Decorah convenience store in which a store clerk was shot and critically wounded. He is serving a 60-year sentence for attempted murder, armed robbery and escape. Frazer said the sexual assault in April occurred in the prison's health-care unit. It was only a few feet away from where a different female state employee was physically attacked by an inmate two years ago, he said. Scaletta said adjustments have been made to security in the Mount Pleasant health-care unit since the incident last April. Any time only one staff member is working in the unit, the building is secured and no inmate is allowed to enter without a staff escort, he said. During the day, some inmates are assigned to work in the health-care unit, but a minimum of two security staffers are on duty, he added. |
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