First appearance on Fox: Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced new legislation to address the alarming rate of inmate sex crimes against federal prison officers.
The Prison Employee Safety Enhancement Act is a response to a Justice Department inspector general report that found 40% of federal prison employees said they had been sexually assaulted by an inmate.
“It is unacceptable that nearly half of Bureau of Prisons staff have experienced sexual harassment or assault by an inmate. The Bureau of Prisons must do more to keep officers safe and hold perpetrators accountable. ” said Republican Florida Rep. Laurel Lee. , co-sponsored a new bill to combat it. “The Prison Personnel Safety and Modernization Act provides oversight of the federal prison system and combats these abuses.”
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A security guard inspects a vehicle entering the Butner Federal Correctional Facility on November 20, 2015 in Butner, North Carolina. (Mandel Gunn/AFP via Getty Images)
The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Lee and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga. The Senate version, sponsored by Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, was previously introduced.
Mr Johnson said incidents against female police officers in particular had reached “unacceptable levels”.
The bill would give the Justice Department's Inspector General one year to conduct a statistical review of sexual assault and harassment incidents committed by inmates in federal prisons against correctional officers and an analysis of the penalties handed down, and then submit a report. You will have an additional 180 days to submit your application. House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
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Secret Service and corrections officers stand on the roof of the El Reno Federal Correctional Facility in El Reno, Oklahoma, as President Barack Obama tours the cell block on July 16, 2015. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The attorney general would then be required to enact new rules to prevent and reduce such incidents and standardize punishment for inmates who attack guards.
“Last year, nearly half of Bureau of Prisons employees surveyed said they had been sexually harassed or assaulted by an inmate,” Blackburn said. “These statistics are shocking and unacceptable. Federal and law enforcement officers should not have to worry about their safety when they go to work. The Prison Employee Safety Enhancement Act would end sexual abuse of prison employees. They're just trying to do their job. ”
The proposal has support from the Fraternal Order of Police.
“The alarming number of documented sexual assault cases highlights the dangerous environment in which our officers and staff operate,” said FOP President Patrick Yaws.
A federal correctional facility in Florence, Colorado, known as the Alcatraz of the Rocky Mountains. (St. Petersburg)
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The Bureau of Prisons has come under fire for a number of problems in recent years. A spate of inmate suicides, including that of sex-trafficking financier Jeffrey Epstein, led to another investigation by the IG and the closure of the Manhattan facility where he was being held.
Federal agents last month swarmed another facility in nearby Brooklyn, where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held awaiting trial on his own sex trafficking charges.
Former prison director Michael D. Carvajal resigned in 2022 following reports of rampant crime and corruption within the prison.
He resigned several months after The Associated Press reported that the Bureau of Prisons was “a breeding ground for abuse, graft and corruption, and turned a blind eye to officials accused of wrongdoing.”
Since 2019, more than 100 BOP workers have been arrested, convicted, or sentenced for crimes, and one warden has been charged with inmate sexual abuse.
FOX News' Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
