Troubled prison will
keep isle inmates

Despite a sex scandal at
a Colorado jail, officials say
transfers are not necessary

CORRECTION Saturday, March 5, 2005 » The alleged sexual misconduct of guards at the Brush Correctional Facility for Women in Colorado involved two female inmates from Hawaii, two from Colorado and four from Wyoming. Page A1 articles yesterday and on Feb. 26 incorrectly reported that four inmates from Hawaii, two from Colorado and one from Wyoming were involved. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Female inmates from Hawaii will remain at a privately run women's prison in Colorado where five officers face sexual misconduct and contraband charges, Hawaii officials said yesterday.

A visit to the prison by state monitors last month shows Hawaii does not need to transfer its inmates to an alternate facility, said Richard Bissen, interim director of Hawaii's Department of Public Safety.

"Incidents like this happen at facilities," Bissen said. "But that place is being more closely monitored than ever, and the women themselves say they are safe."

Three prison officers had sex with a total of four Hawaii inmates, two Colorado inmates and one Wyoming inmate, according to Alison Morgan, a spokesperson for the Colorado corrections department. Two of the officers have resigned, and a third is on administrative leave.

Investigations show the sex was consensual, said Gil Walker, founder and chief executive of Tennessee-based GRW, which owns the Brush Correctional Facility for Women, located in Colorado.

One case involved two Hawaii inmates and a guard, who admitted to engaging in sexual activity in January in the prison library.

The guard, Russell Rollison, 31, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault in a penal institution, a Class 5 felony. The maximum penalty is three years. Consensual sexual contact between an inmate and a corrections officer is a crime under Colorado law.

Some civil rights advocates argue that there is no such thing as consensual sex between an inmate and an authority figure.

"We have a law that says it's a felony. It's not consensual when someone is in custody," said Kat Brady, an advocate with the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.

Myles Breiner, a Honolulu lawyer who is representing the Hawaii inmates, has said the women were forced to perform a sex act for Rollison.

The two women, ages 35 and 23, were in protective custody after the incident and are now housed in a women's facility in Hawaii, Bissen said.

Morgan said some Hawaii and Wyoming inmates admitted they believed having sex with the guards would help them get transferred to their home states, where they would be closer to relatives.

Walker said the company conducts extensive background checks on officers and wardens before they are hired, and Rollison, who had many years of experience as a police officer, was no exception.

The 250-bed prison, whose security staff is 60 percent female, is making minor rule changes, increasing guard training and investigating the incidents, Walker said.

The prison's warden resigned recently over issues unrelated to the incidents, he said.

The Brush Correctional Facility for Women, about 90 miles northeast of Denver, opened in August 2003 as the first private prison for women in Colorado. The facility holds about 80 inmates from Hawaii, 73 from Colorado and 45 from Wyoming.