By Martin E. Comas
Orlando Sentinel
SUMTER, Fla. — The federal prison in Sumter County leads the nation in reports of sexual misconduct -- including rapes and affairs -- between federal prisoners and workers, according to a U.S. Justice Department study.
In fact, sexual abuse is getting worse nationwide, with reported cases more than doubling from 2001 through 2008, according to the report, which looked at 93 federal corrections facilities.
“Sexual abuse of inmates in BOP [Bureau of Prisons] facilities has severe consequences for victims and undermines the safety and security of federal prisons,” Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said in a statement. Fine called on the department to “take additional steps to further improve its effort to address this serious problem.”
The Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, off County Road 470 in Sumter, had 80 reports of sexual abuse of inmates during that time, according to the study. Third on the list is the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee with 67 reports. But the Tallahassee lockup has far fewer prisoners -- just over 1,200 compared with more than 7,100 in Coleman, the nation’s largest federal prison.
That Tallahassee prison is where William “Buddy” Sentner III, 44, an Orlando resident and special agent with the Justice Department, died June 21, 2006, in a shootout with a prison guard as he and other investigators were trying to arrest six guards.
Federal officials said the guards smuggled drugs and other items into the prison’s women’s section and then sold or exchanged the contraband for sex with inmates. The guards even allowed female inmates to leave their cells and gave prison employees keys to offices so they could engage in sex.
The recent federal study shows 109 reported cases in 2001 and 231 in 2008, a nearly 112 percent jump. There were nearly 209,000 federal prisoners as of last week.
Sexual misconduct, including relationships between prison staff and inmates, can damage the safety and security of a prison, federal officials say. It also can lead to other crimes, such as extortion.
In another local case highlighted in the report, Michael Rudkin, a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., agreed to pay a female inmate with whom he had sex $5,000 to arrange for his wife’s murder.
Rudkin was sentenced to 15 years in prison and sent to Coleman in April. Once there, he again approached other inmates to murder his now ex-wife, and also her new boyfriend, a federal investigator and the female inmate in Connecticut, according to federal prosecutors in Ocala.
Also in Danbury, prison guard Scott Frank left his post several times between September 2006 and January 2007 to have sex with a female inmate in a prison office. He was sentenced to one month in prison and 200 hours of community service. He also must register as a sex offender.
When a prisoner consents to sex, it’s considered statutory rape because prison workers have custodial authority over inmates.
Roberto Hugh Potter, a criminal-justice and legal-studies professor at the University of Central Florida, said the rise in allegations is likely the result of increased efforts and awareness by prison officials and inmates.
“Sensitization to this issue has risen,” Potter said. “Part of what you see here may be part of a trend that the facilities have become more responsive to what is going on. . . . There really has been a concerted effort to make prisoners aware that this is not tolerable behavior and that you will be taken seriously if you make an allegation. Whereas in the past there might have been more of a culture to discount what an inmate says.”
Still, many cases are hampered by lack of physical evidence, delayed reports by inmates and fear of retaliation.
“Inmates sometimes realize they are putting themselves in danger if they report,” Potter said.
Bill Sentner of Orlando, William Sentner’s father, said improvements to the federal prison system have been made after his son’s death, including adding metal detectors for guards entering or leaving facilities. That helps deter prison staff from smuggling contraband in exchange for sex, he said.
“It’s a lot deeper than it looks on the surface,” Sentner said. “It’s never going to stop, but if it’s stemmed somewhat -- if it saves one life, it helps one person -- then it’s worth it.”
Copyright 2009 Sentinel Communications Co.