06.09.07

Sex Between Gurad And Inmate Swept Under The Rug By Feds At T. Don Hutto

Posted in Criminal Justice, Privatization, T. Don Hutto, Around The Nation, Williamson County at 12:33 am by wcnews

Federal authorities are trying to make sure what happens at TDH stays at TDH. AAS has the story, Sex assault inquiry at immigrant facility leads to no finding of criminal activity:

Federal authorities said they found no evidence of criminal activity after investigating the possible sexual assault of a female inmate by a security guard at an immigrant detention center in Taylor.

The guard, whose name was not released by officials, was fired last month from the T. Don Hutto Residential Center by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees the facility. The center confines families and children on noncriminal immigration violations.

From last week’s AusChron article, Cover Up At Hutto?, we found out that sexual assault was suspected. The Taylor police and the WCSO were both called in and the inmate was even taken to the hospital to be checked out. The FBI says “no evidence of criminal activity” was found after their investigation. If not then will they rehire the fired guard, since he committee no crime? Doubtful. Just everyone keep quiet and hopefully it will go away. We could try and guess about what their definition of “criminal activity” would be, but that would be worthless. The FBI also didn’t even tell ICE they made their final determination:

Eric Vasys, a spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio, said Friday that investigators consulted with the U.S. attorney’s office, determined that there was no criminal activity and closed the investigation.

Nina Pruneda, a spokeswoman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would not comment Friday, saying she was unaware that the FBI had completed its investigation. She would not say whether her agency is conducting an internal investigation or re-evaluating any policies.

The AusChron article last week that also had this:

Despite ICE’s assurances that the case is in good hands, the outlook appears bleak; a 2005 U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General report titled “Deterring Staff Sexual Abuse of Federal Inmates” flatly states that custodial sexual abuse, as well as assault, often go unpunished. Even if such sex is consensual, it is a crime, the report emphasizes – though only a misdemeanor offense under federal law. (Most states, including Texas, consider it a felony.)

So even if the sex was consensual it’s still illegal but no criminal activity was found. Then we must assume they found no evidence of any sex between the guard and an inmate. There’s this from the comments on this situation from this SA Current article on T. Don Hutto, Undocumented Immigrants, Unlicensed Prison:

I have heard a rumor that the story about the woman who was sexually abused in T. Don Hutto came to light this week because her child told another child and eventually another mother heard about it and relayed it to authorities in some manner. These sorts of incidents are often covered up by the industry, though the behavior is criminal on the part of the guard.

It’s obvious something that shouldn’t have happened did happen at T. Don Hutto, why else would the local authorities have been called? But with the federal government having jurisdiction over this little slice of Williamson County it’s case closed. Don’t forget who’s responsible for allowing this to happen in Williamson County. All for the low, low price of $1/inmate/day.

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