INMATE RAPE
On September 5, 2003, inmate Timothy Daniel Locklear, 29 of Aberdeen,
NC raped a fellow inmate in his overcrowded cell. The 17 year old inmate
was forced to do a sexual act by habitual felon Locklear at night in the
Brunswick County Jail.
Two other inmates witnessed the act and testified in court that the 6'1"
Locklear forced himself on the smaller 5'7" victim.
Although this type of male on male assault is rare in Brunswick County
other male on male predatory crimes are not as uncommon. Fights, threats,
intimidation and harassment are part of the norm both in Brunswick County
and every other county jail. Most of these inmates are locked up for a
reason, they are dangerous.
Overcrowding is a major proponent to inmate violence. Not enough "personal
space," lack of open visibility by passing deputies, no means of
segregating violent offenders from nonviolent offenders.
Also poor architectural design allows some hidden areas that enable inmates
to find seclusion and opportunity. But it is not only the inmates that
take advantage of poor architecture and lack of public visibility as evident
to the recent arrest of New Hanover County jail deputy Norman Gattison
who reportedly took a female inmate into a stairway and raped her. Gattison
is due for trial on July 15th.
Statistically one in five male inmates have been sexually abused. Women,
who are more likely to be abused by male staff, have reports as high as
one in four abused in some facilities.
Private prisons and detention facilities have some of the highest incidents
of abuse by staff. Perhaps the need for profit overshadows the selection
of trustworthy staff.
The New Hanover County's new 48 million dollar detention facility is state
of the art in it's design. The complex is made up of wide-open pods. The
theory is that a deputy at a central dais can see into every cell. The
cells are single occupant cells, small but adequate.
Inmate rape is serious. Many people think the prospect of prison rape
is a deterrent to criminals. It has been talked about, studied and the
federal government even enacted a law to help eliminate prison rape. The
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 has little teeth for enforcement but
promises to gather national statistics and develop guidelines on how to
address prison rape. Grants are also available to combat the problem.
Kudos to the Brunswick County prosecution team and the investigators within
the Sheriff's Office to help bring a conviction against Mr. Locklear.
Locklear's conviction adds an additional 17 years to his sentence.
It is rare when other inmates will testify for the prosecution about inmate
on inmate crime, it is also rare that authorities will take inmate complaints
seriously. The Brunswick County Sheriff's Office has been in the hot seat
of public inspection recently with the suicide of an inmate. Questions
of concern about the number of deputies making routine rounds of the jail
were valid and addressed. The Sheriff could have very easily hidden this
sexual assault, instead they chose to admit to short comings, which again
potentially places them on the hot seat, as they sought justice for an
inmate/victim.
Inmates have rights, maybe we are learning that part of enforcing of our
laws is dealing with how to handle those incarcerated for crimes with
humane treatment and swift and open justice.
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