Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Civil litigation over completely corrupt jail on OK border

An array of civil litigation has arisen related to the outrageous scandal at the Montague County jail last year, where the Sheriff and other leos allegedly took a cut from drug dealing and coerced sex from inmates. Reports the Wichita Falls Times Record News ("Four women file suit in sheriff scandal," July 28):
As a long list of criminal complaints related to the Montague County Jail scandal works out of the courts, a spate of civil cases related to the scandal are working their way in.

Four women have filed suit in federal court in Wichita Falls in July. Shelley Wrea Lemon, Lashana Dykes and Dawnita Knight filed suit jointly on Thursday. Dee Ann Green filed suit July 15.

Lemon claims former Sheriff Bill Keating came to her home in July 2008 requesting sexual favors in exchange for keeping her invalid husband out of the jail on probation violation warrants. She claims Keating told her he had a lot of power and “could be her best friend or her worst nightmare,” and if she made the wrong decision, he would “bust her entire family.” Lemon claims she had to move away from Montague County to get away from Keating.

Dykes claims within an hour of being arrested on warrants in 2008, Keating drove her to a remote location in his patrol car and suggested she perform oral sex on him. She says he told her he would make her life “a living hell” if she did not cooperate. Dykes claims she was routinely required to go to Keating’s office and display her breasts for him and on one occasion was handcuffed while Keating attempted to rape her. She said a jailer knocked on the door and interrupted the assault.

Knight claimed that while she was incarcerated, she was required to perform massages on the sheriff and view pornographic photos on his office computer. She claims on two occasions she was required to have sex with a male jailer.

In her separate suit, Green claims during her incarceration in 2008, Keating demanded she perform oral sex in exchange for medications she required and that Keating tried to persuade her to have sex with another inmate.

The July lawsuits follow a suit filed in January by former jail inmate Luke Bolton, who claims that in summer 2007 he was required by jail guard Darlene Walker to have sex with her in a shower stall. He also claims Walker sometimes recorded their sexual activities on videotape. Bolton’s suit claims sexual predation of inmates was a common custom and done with jail administrators’ knowledge and that Keating “followed a custom of sexual congress with prisoners.” His suit also describes drug dealing within the jail from which the sheriff was paid a percentage. He claims he was required to become an “enforcer” and perform “hits” on other inmates with whom Keating was dissatisfied.

In all of the civil lawsuits, the plaintiffs ask for unspecified monetary damages from Montague County.
See related Grits posts:

1 comment:

Hook Em Horns said...

Where are the LEO's and there cronies to tell us how wonderful criminal justice is here in Texas. I can hear a damn pin drop!