State sued over
sex assault
A girl’s family says the youth
prison should have done more
to keep her from a guard
The legal guardians of a 16-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a guard at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility have filed suit against the state and the former officer.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit filed yesterday in Circuit Court by Santo Ruiz and Dani Ruiz were the state Department of Human Services, Office of Youth Services, the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, former guard Lia Olione, former administrator Melvin Ando and corrections specialist Glenn Yoshimoto.
Derick Dahilig, spokesman for the Department of Human Services, said they could not comment since they had not seen the suit yet.
Officials from the youth prison could not be reached for comment.
The suit alleges that as operators of the facility, the state was obligated to protect the girl from any foreseeable harm and were grossly negligent in failing to do so. The suit also alleges the defendants were negligent for failing to remove the girl immediately from the facility after she reported the assault to HYCF personnel.
It took the state months to take action after the girl reported the guard to HYCF officials, said plaintiffs attorney Sue Herbich.
The girl's complaint was one of the key incidents that prompted a critical report by the American Civil Liberties Union of the conditions at the facility, including allegations that guards were terrorizing male and female inmates.
Because of the study, Gov. Linda Lingle replaced the top managers at the facility and ordered an investigation.
Olione, 45, had worked as a state youth correctional officer for nearly 10 years and fled to American Samoa in July 2003 after the state attorney general began investigating the allegations.
He was convicted in Circuit Court earlier this year and sentenced to 15 years in prison in July for sexually assaulting the girl on at least four occasions while she was detained from May 9 to June 20, 2003.
Herbich said the girl and her guardians are happy that some of the things they complained about, such as the male guards giving the girls no privacy when they changed their clothes or when using the toilet, have been rectified and that female guards are now on duty at night.
They are also relieved that the administrator was replaced "because even when she complained, they did nothing," Herbich said.
"Prior to her being sexually assaulted, there was another girl who was assaulted by the same guard, so it was surprising he didn't get removed then," Herbich said. "Or else, it wouldn't have happened to her."
The suit seeks damages to be determined at trial.
The girl was only a short-term detainee at the time and is now attending high school and seeing a counselor.
"She's trying to do the best she can, but it changed her life and her innocence," Herbich said. "She was there, and they were supposed to protect her."
