According to a lawsuit filed by an inmate at the Logan Correctional Center, she was “raped by a transgender inmate who was transferred into her housing unit last year.” On top of that, the inmate, referred to as Jane Doe in the suit, argues “Illinois Department of Corrections officials conducted a sham investigation to help cover up the incident.” It turns out, shortly after the alleged incident, Jane Doe “was coerced by a supervisory officer into denying the attack took place and then punished for filing a ‘false’ complaint under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).” The lawsuit was filed earlier this month and claims the sexual assault happened in June 2019.

Female inmates inside a maximum security cell. Image via Wikimedia Commons/user:Officer Bimblebury. (CCA-BY-4.0).

Beatrice Calhoun, the warden at the correctional facility is named as a defendant in the suit, along with two officers, Brent Keeler and Todd Sexton. The complaint states:“The transfer of transgender inmates from male to female prisons has been a contentious policy within IDOC. In an attempt to justify the transfers, Defendants Sexton, Calhoun, Keeler and currently other unknown IDOC employees covered up the sexual assault of Plaintiff and tried to falsely classify it as consensual, to keep it from being considered a PREA violation.”The alleged attacker during the incident was Janiah Monroe, a transgender inmate who sued IDOC recently demanding to be moved to Logan after allegedly being targeted for “sexual harassment and abuse from male inmates and prison employees.” According to Jane Doe’s suit, Monroe, “who identifies as female, but still has male genitalia, was moved into the plaintiff’s housing unit on June 18, 2019, and immediately began expressing an interest in the plaintiff.” The suit further states:“Plaintiff was terrified of this inmate as the inmate was much bigger and stronger than Plaintiff…Plaintiff had also heard that this inmate had assaulted prior cellmates and had been convicted of murder.”Following the alleged incident, Jane Doe was transferred to the correctional facility’s Health Care Unit and “was interviewed by internal affairs officers.” The next day, Sexton interviews her and allegedly told her “that he did not believe her and he pressured Plaintiff to say there was no sexual assault.” According to the suit, Jane Doe was “coerced into providing the statement and filed a grievance with IDOC soon after regarding that interview.” From there, she was “relocated 40 miles away to the Decatur Correctional Center.” Two months later, Jane Doe “she learned IDOC had determined she committed a major infraction for allegedly filing a false PREA complaint, which led to months of continued punishment during her continued incarceration, the complaint states,” according to the suit.When commenting on the alleged incident, Alan Mills, the attorney representing Monroe, said he knows of the allegations against his client but that the “IDOC had deemed the plaintiff’s claims unfounded.” He added:“Our understanding is the Department of Corrections investigated this incident and found that it was consensual sex, not rape. So the underlying claim here, I think, is without merit.”

Sources:

Lawsuit: Female Prisoner Says She Was Raped by Transgender InmateFemale Inmate Claims She Was Raped by Transgender Inmate Who Was Placed in Illinois Women’s Prison