The Springer Correctional Center is slated to close in the next few years – an action that apparently can’t come soon enough. Multiple lawsuits are connected with the facility, including one where the state recently paid a $50,000 settlement on a sexual assault case.
The settlement was with just one inmate, in a joint lawsuit against the officer accused of the assault as well as the facility's management, according to KOB 4.
The other plaintiff did not settle and continues her lawsuit against corrections officers and management at the Springer Correctional Center.
There are eight sexual assault lawsuits pending against the state-owned facility, KOB 4 reported.
Attorney Levi Monagle represents one of the sexual assault victims.
“Our client was an inmate of the Springer [Correctional Center] for a period of about a year,” Monagle told KOB 4. “She was on a work detail, so she was able to spend a lot of time outside of her cell, but it quickly became apparent to her that she was going to be targeted for sexual abuse by a corrections officer in charge of her work detail. I think the prison setting is one of the most difficult settings for any victim of sexual violence to report. Not only do we have the normal societal stigmas around being a victim of sexual violence, but in prison, there are the additional threats of re-victimization but also being targeted of snitching or going to the authorities.”
Due to the potential for retribution, Monagle’s client did not report her assault until after she was transferred out of Springer.
The attorney doesn’t believe the $50,000 settlement with one plaintiff will impact his other cases.
“The settlement of one case does not determine the settlement in another; we are at the beginning of our case, relatively, and we anticipate we have a lot of litigation ahead of us,” Monagle told KOB 4.
