By Lisa Backus
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
MANCHESTER, Conn. — A new state law based on the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act that went into effect this week defines how Connecticut correctional facilities must deal with reports of sexual assault against incarcerated individuals and staff.
The law requires the state Department of Correction to provide sexual assault services to victims from within and outside the prison system, and orders the agency to send a report to legislators each year on how many incidents of sexual misconduct were reported, how they were investigated and the outcome of the investigations.
The law also requires the DOC to forward any complaints to the state’s correctional ombudsman, whose office will investigate the claims as well. A report issued in December by Disability Rights Connecticut found that some cases of sexual misconduct were not properly investigated by the DOC and some staff accused of sexually assaulting incarcerated women were allowed to resign.
“Sexual violence in custody is not an unfortunate byproduct of incarceration,” DeVaughn Ward , the state’s correctional ombudsman, said in his testimony to legislators in support of the law. “It represents a constitutional breakdown. Individuals in state custody are wholly dependent on the state for their safety. When sexual abuse occurs inside a correctional facility, it is not merely misconduct by individual actors; it reflects a failure of the state’s constitutional obligation to protect those it has confined.”
Officials from the DOC did not respond to a request for comment.
While advocates credit the state for codifying the federal law, they are also saying state officials left out one key element that should be addressed.
Inmates should be able to sue the state on claims they were sexually assaulted in facilities that are supposed to protect them while they are incarcerated, according to testimony provided by attorney Alex Taubes .
“I was hoping that people who are raped in prison would be able to sue in court on the grounds the state Department of Correction failed to protect them,” said Taubes, who successfully fought for inmate Lashanda Gregory to be granted permission to file a lawsuit on claims she had no choice but to provide sexual favors to guards who would let her out of her cell in the middle of the night.
As it stands, incarcerated individuals who are seeking to sue the state over sexual assaults that occurred in prison or a halfway house must exhaust every administrative grievance process with the DOC before asking the state’s Claim’s Commissioner to allow them to file a lawsuit.
It’s a high bar that few people can reach, said Taubes, who believes Gregory is the first person to meet the standard. Her lawsuit, filed in May, is pending. Taubes said she was moved to a prison in Delaware , away from her attorney and her support system, in retaliation for coming forward with the allegations. Gregory was moved back to Connecticut after CT Insider highlighted her story and a group of female legislators requested her return. She now is incarcerated at York Correctional Institution in East Lyme .
Many incarcerated individuals don’t know that they have to file a grievance to start the investigation process if they have been the victim of a sexual assault, said attorney Rachel Mirsky , who headed the Disability Rights investigation.
Under the legislation, the DOC must provide all complaints of sexual assault whether it pertains to inmates or staff to the correctional ombudsman. The law also requires training in how to prevent and investigate complaints and requires the agency to provide counseling for victims which they can get through the prison system or from outside providers.
“Incarcerated survivors are wholly dependent on correctional institutions for their safety, care, and ability to report harm, making them uniquely
vulnerable to abuse, retaliation, and silence. When reporting systems fail, survivors have nowhere else to turn,” Hamilton said in her testimony.
She said Monday that one of the most important aspects of the law is that the DOC is required to give the ombudsman all reports of sexual misconduct. “It’s the one thing we need to do among many things,” Hamilton said of the law, which she added will allow her organization and the state to track trends in sexual misconduct in prisons.
Sexual assaults of men and women serving sentences in state prisons has been a problem for decades. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act passed in 2003 as a way of ensuring that sexual assaults in prisons were reported and investigated.
Despite the federal law, the investigation done by Disability Rights Connecticut uncovered “significant deficiencies” in how the DOC implements PREA and that over the span of six years, from 2021 to 2025, 12 correction officers were accused of sexually abusing female prisoners at York, the state’s only prison for women, including four who were convicted and others who resigned or terminated.
The DRCT investigation included interviews, record and policy reviews, 13 in-person visits to York and an examination of more than 150 incidents at the prison. The reviews included various training materials, analysis reports, unit directives, Security Division investigations, records from other agencies, and staff disciplinary reviews and determinations, a news release said at the time.
Advocates in Connecticut such as Beth Hamilton , executive director of the Alliance to End Sexual Violence, and Ward asked legislators to incorporate aspects of PREA in state law after federal authorities under President Donald Trump cut funding to an organization involved with the federal law last year.
“PREA was enacted as a federal civil rights framework designed to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in confinement settings,” Ward said in his testimony supporting the state law. “However, PREA is not self-executing and depends heavily on state-level implementation and enforcement. Recent federal actions have weakened the infrastructure that historically supported PREA implementation nationwide. In April 2025 , the United States Department of Justice terminated federal funding for the National PREA Resource Center , the entity responsible for training PREA auditors, maintaining the national audit system, and providing technical assistance to correctional agencies implementing PREA standards.”
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