Summary: Most U.S. correctional jurisdictions recognize that sexual misconduct by staff against inmates is a problem that cannot be tolerated. Staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct covers a wide range of behaviors, from lewd remarks to voyeurism to assault and rape. As of April 1999, the federal government, 41 states, and the District of Columbia had passed laws criminalizing some types of staff sexual misconduct in prisons. Also, most U.S. correctional systems have participated in training to help them develop policies and procedures to deal with such misconduct. The four correctional systems that GAO studied--the federal Bureau of Prisons, the California Department of Corrections, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the District of Columbia's correctional system--have or were in the process of developing policies to ban staff sexual misconduct. However, GAO's work in the four jurisdictions found that sexual misconduct persists. Between 1995 and 1998, female inmates in the three largest jurisdictions GAO studied made 506 allegations of staff sexual misconduct; 92 of them were sustained, generally resulting in staff firings or resignations. But the full extent of sexual misconduct is unknown because two of the three jurisdictions did not provide data on all types of allegations. Of the four jurisdictions, only the Bureau of Prisons reported any criminal convictions under sexual misconduct laws from 1995 to 1998. All four jurisdictions were involved in at least two civil lawsuits arising from staff sexual misconduct during this period. Officials in the four jurisdictions cited a lack of evidence as the primary reason why more allegations were not sustained. Generally, none of the four jurisdictions GAO studied had readily available, comprehensive data or reports on the number, the nature, and the outcome of staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct allegations. The absence of such systematic information makes it difficult for lawmakers, corrections management, and others to effectively address the problem.
