Female inmates assaulted in prison
By Clark Davis and Ben Adducchio
November 5, 2009 ·
Twenty-one women have filed lawsuits that state they were victims of sexual misconduct while in West Virginia prisons, including a case that resulted in a $100,000 settlement.
The lawsuits are for incidents that occurred between the summer of 2005 to January 2009. The female inmates allege that they were groped and raped by prison employees.
According to the lawsuits the incidents happened at Lakin Correctional Center in Mason County, Anthony Correctional Center in Greenbrier County, and at the Southern Regional Jail near Beckley.
The attorneys representing the 21 women are Mike Woelfel, Matt Woelfel and Kerry Nessel.
Nessel says after seeing the evidence they had no choice to represent the women.
“I wouldn’t take these cases or any individual ones unless I believed in our clients and I do,” Nessel said. “There has been quite a few that I’ve turned down that we haven’t pursued because I didn’t believe the women.”
The defendants on the case are the state Division of Corrections, Regional Jail Authority and Department of Education along with 10 individuals.
The individuals include an associate warden, a lieutenant, a principal of prison education and other correctional officers.
Nessel says that three of the 10 people still work for the state and deny any wrongdoing.
Nessel says that 15 of the 21 women are still incarcerated. He says it takes a brave woman to come forward.
“You know these women are incarcerated and the individuals they’ve accused, a lot of the correctional officers currently are friends with these guys. It takes a lot of courage for a woman to put forth the allegations,” Nessel said.
Nessel says the state has changed some policies to prevent assaults.
“A lot of this happened when either they were understaffed or when people were over worked,” Nessel said.
One plaintiff, former Lt. David Wayne Masters, pleaded guilty last year in Greenbrier County Circuit Court to sexual intercourse or intrusion with an inmate. He received one year of probation in lieu of a one-to-five-year suspended prison sentence. The alleged victim is a convicted murderer at the Anthony Correctional Center.
Nessel says other cases are in the discovery phase and some of the cases have trials scheduled for next year.