By Maggie Shepard
Albuquerque Tribune
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal lawsuit filed this morning claims an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center was raped after guards knowingly placed him in a cell with a man accused of previously raping another inmate.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of an openly gay 25-year-old man who in 2006 was serving a sentence for DWI.
“Our hope is out of this litigation we’ll inspire some change in how supervision and physical security is meted out,” said Peter Simonson, ACLU executive director.
The lawsuit contends guards should have considered the previous rape accusation before placing the plaintiff with his alleged attacker.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was taunted about his sexual orientation by guards and other inmates after being sentenced to jail in 2005 for DWI.
Also in 2005, the inmate accused of raping the plaintiff was accused of raping another inmate at the jail, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff was placed in the cell with his alleged attacker in 2006.
“Defendants were on notice of Inmate Does’ rape allegation at the time that (the accused inmate) assaulted and raped (the plaintiff),” the lawsuit says.
“They knowingly put him in there,” Simonson said. “There was failure to pay attention to the gravity of the situation.”
The lawsuit claims the jail does not adequately train its staff to keep inmates safe from sexual assault and the jail does not have procedural safeguards in place.
“There has got to be some basic classification approach that does not result in a known violent inmate being housed with an openly gay inmate,” Simonson said, noting an openly gay inmate might be more vulnerable in such a situation.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for the inmate’s suffering and punitive damages against Ron Torres, the jail’s chief correction officer.
County officials did not immediately return calls for comment this morning but as a rule don’t comment on pending litigation.
Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Tribune