It seems CCA has set a new record. Apparently there is more sexual victimization (Prison Rapes and staff encounters with inmates) at CCA's Torrance County Detention Facility (Estancia, New Mexico) than at any other prison in the United States. The CCA run prison is at the top of the list with a reporting rate of 13.4 percent, more than four times the national average of 3.2 percent. The U.S. Department of Justice report goes on to say that there is a 95% chance that between 5.4% and 21.4% of the prisoners are being sexually victimized (if it was 21.4% then that would make it almost seven times the national average). This government report asked inmates questions such as "During the last six months, did another inmate use physical force to make you give or receive oral sex or a blow job?"
Kind of makes you wonder how well CCA is at doing their jobs if between 5% and 21% of the inmates at the Torrance County facility are getting raped or having sex with CCA staff. Torrance County also houses some ICE detainees much like those detained at SDC.
The report is available here
A Department of Justice Press Release is available here
It is also worth noting that until recently it was not against the law for CCA staff to have sexual relations with inmates being detained by ICE within it's facilities. This law was apparently changed because a CCA officer had sex with a female ICE detainee at a facility named after one of CCA's original founders (T. Don Hutto Residential Center, Taylor Texas). This sex act also took place in front of the inmates child (her son's age was not reported but apparently he was young enough to need a crib inside of the cell). This staff member was observed (and recorded by security cameras) crawling out of the detainees cell where he had just left semen on the concrete floor. Just a few months after this incident a new law was passed to help stop employees from companies like CCA from having sexual relations with detainees.
One can only wonder how a company can keep ICE contracts while congressional action is having to be taken to stop it's companies employee's from having sex with the inmates entrusted to it's care. With CCA's long history of incidents like this it seems entirely appropriate that this facility is named for one of it's original founders.
A newspaper article on the incident is available here
Shining a light on Corrections Corporation of America's (CCA) Stewart Detention Center
