BUFFALO, N.Y. — Five female inmates, only referred to as 'Jane Stone 1-5', have filed a lawsuit claiming they were sexually abused by guards at Albion and Lakeview correctional facilities in Western New York, and two other prisons across the state.
"Inmates are being raped on a nearly daily basis in the New York state correctional system and the department’s top priority appears to be to cover up the abuse and attack the inmates’ credibility," said attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma.
The lawsuit names New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”) Acting Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci, Associate Commissioner and Prison Rape Elimination Act ("PREA”) Coordinator Jason Effman, and Superintendents Sabina Kaplan, Brian Kubik, Tanya Mitchell-Voyd, and Susan Squires.
According to the lawsuit, one woman claimed she was manipulated into sexual activity by gifts and favors at Albion Correctional Facility, while another said she was forcibly raped and sodomized in the laundry room. She saved the officer's semen in a sock.
The new lawsuit seeks $50 million in damages for the five women.