Top federal officials have endorsed a set of recommendations to deal more harshly with federal prison employees who sexually abuse inmates, citing what Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco called "grave concerns" about sexual misconduct in the prisons, the Washington Post reports. In a memo to all U.S. attorneys and other Justice Department officials, Monaco ordered the Bureau of Prisons to take "immediate actions" against problem employees and said that she and BOP Director Colette Peters "embrace" recommendations from a panel of senior department officials that recommended stronger punishment for prison officials guilty of misconduct and possibly lighter sentences for incarcerated victims.
Monaco's memo attached the panel's report, which includes more than 50 recommendations meant to protect inmates. The BOP's office of internal affairs reported 651 allegations of sexual abuse against employees in fiscal 2020, with only five claims sustained as of March 2021. In the past five years, the BOP reported 45 cases reached prosecution. Shane Fausey, president of the American Federation of Government Employees’ Council of Prison Locals, said the working group’s recommendations were “somewhat created with good intentions, [but] lacking entirely of any input or perspective of the employees of the BOP.” He urged Justice to protect and support “the +99% of the honest and dedicated correctional professional [who] are subjected to the same type of horrid behavior and believe convening a similar workgroup is long overdue.”