By Patrick McNamara
The Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON — A woman whom a corrections officer admitted groping while she was an inmate at the Pima County jail has filed a civil lawsuit against Pima County and the Sheriff’s Department.
Holly Marie Edwards filed the complaint in Pima County Superior Court on Nov. 14 accusing the defendants of battery, unlawful imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, false light invasion of privacy and civil-rights violations.
“Just because you’re in jail doesn’t mean you’re open for sexual abuse,” said Edwards’ attorney, Natasha Wrae.
Included among the defendants is Jorge Renteria-Urias?, the former jail officer who in September was sentenced to three years’ probation as part of his guilty plea to attempted sexual misconduct. Edwards was among the three victims in that case.
The suit does not specify how much in damages Edwards is seeking, but in a claim letter submitted to the county previously she offered to settle the case for $2 million.
Representatives from the Pima County Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department both declined to comment on the case because the matter remains in court.
The criminal case against Renteria-Urias said he coerced the female jail inmates into exposing themselves to him and allowing him to touch their genitals.
Court documents in Renteria-Urias’ case say the former guard gave special treatment to Edwards and the other women, such as bringing them chewing gum and over-the-counter and prescription medications, in exchange for sexual contact.
“The statute says that they can’t consent,” Wrae said, referencing a state law that says incarcerated or detained people cannot consent to sex with law-enforcement officials.
Federal laws also make it a crime for corrections officers to engage in sexual activity with inmates. Wrae noted a federal investigation into Edwards’ case in the complaint.
Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. The federal action sought to develop a set of national standards to prevent sexual assaults in prisons and jails.
As part of the act, the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics gathers data each year to produce an annual report of inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate sexual-misconduct allegations.
The most recent report, covering 2009 through 2011, showed 53 allegations of staff-on-inmate abuse in Arizona’s federal and state prisons in 2011. Four of those cases were substantiated.
In 2010, there were 43 reported allegations, five of which were substantiated. There were 41 reported allegations in 2009. Five of those were substantiated.
The report also shows jail statistics for the same years. The Pima County Adult Detention Center reported no staff-on-inmate allegations in any of the three years.
When the Prison Rape Elimination Act was passed in 2003, states were given 10 years to meet the standards it set. Arizona is one of eight states and territories that still have not met the deadline. The Justice Department has given the state until the end of the year to comply with the act or face a financial penalty.
The incidents in Edwards’ civil complaint occurred in November 2013, when she was incarcerated while awaiting trial in her criminal case, in which she faced multiple charges of child abuse and involving minors with drug offenses.
Wrae acknowledged Edwards was addicted to pain medication after a surgery, but denied the charges that she involved her own children and others in obtaining illegal drugs.
“She denies all that,” Wrae said of Edwards, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse and was sentenced to seven years’ probation and 700 hours of community service.
Wrae noted the details of Edwards’ criminal case would almost certainly not be discussed in the civil case.
“It’s not relevant to how a C.O. (corrections officer) was treating her,” Wrae said.
Wrae said the County Attorney’s Office has received a copy of the lawsuit, but she has postponed officially serving the office with the complaint to allow time for potential settlement negotiations.