JDI Statement on the Arrest of a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy for Rape
- September 14, 2017
Los Angeles, September 14, 2017 — JDI is appalled by the report that two Los Angeles County jail inmates were raped by a sheriff’s deputy. The deputy, who is alleged to have committed the assaults at the Century Regional Detention Facility, was arrested yesterday.
“What happened at the jail represents a profound failure of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. It is the department’s absolute duty to keep all inmates safe,” said Lovisa Stannow, Just Detention International’s Executive Director. “The only good news is that Sheriff McDonnell appears to be taking this case seriously. Prisoner rape is a life-shattering crime, and it is preventable.”
In 2015, JDI began working to help the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards, a set of federal regulations. At this time, a meaningful step forward would be for the department to finalize its own PREA policies.
“There are strong, committed leaders at the Sheriff’s Department who take sexual abuse very seriously, but this case is a chilling reminder of how much more work needs to be done to end this violence,” said Stannow.
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Just Detention International is a health and human rights organization that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention.