Female Ex-Guards Press Their Protest Against Folsom Warden

A group of women who once worked as guards at Folsom State Prison pressed their case Thursday against the appointment of a long-time prison official as warden, charging that he failed to take steps to curb sexual harassment at the prison.

The women claimed that they were threatened with reprisals by prison guards if they refused to “play the game.”

Carrie Mello, who quit after working nine months at Folsom, said female guards are “treated like a secretary and a waitress and lower than the inmates because you are a female. If you play the game, they treat you pretty good. If you step out of line, you are punished pretty severely.”

The allegations by six former guards, detailed at a news conference, are the latest in a volley of sexual discrimination charges that held up the confirmation of Folsom’s acting warden, Joe Campoy, and sparked a series of investigations by several legislative committees, the attorney general’s office and two state agencies.

Vote Delayed

Three of the women, who say they resigned as a result of harassment, had testified earlier before the Senate Rules Committee in an effort to block the confirmation of Campoy, a veteran Folsom official who was named warden last year by Gov. George Deukmejian. The charges prompted the committee to hold off on a vote until next week so that the allegations could be investigated.

In hopes of undoing some of the damage, a number of female corrections officers and others still working at Folsom held a press briefing last week at which they complimented Campoy and denied that there was any sexual harassment.

On Thursday, Karen Morrison, one of three former corrections officers who testified against Campoy, charged that the press briefing had been staged by the warden. Among those who attended, she said, were two of the warden’s nieces, his brother and a male sergeant who is the subject of many of the sexual harassment complaints.

The former guards did not charge Campoy with personally participating in any sexual harassment but said he turned a deaf ear to their complaints. They said sexual harassment had been a problem before Campoy was named acting Warden almost a year ago.

Detailed Experiences

Morrison spoke about her own experiences as a guard, saying that at one point a male officer had grabbed her in the prison and “offered my body to an inmate.”

“Would you like something like this?” Morrison quoted the male officer as saying.

Ed Ben, a Folsom guard, joined the six women at Thursday’s press conference, saying he had witnessed numerous incidents of sexual harassment.

“I’ve seen women patted on the butt and I’ve seen (male guards) putting their hands on a seat when a (woman) was sitting down,” he said. “If you can believe it, even males get sexually harassed by other guards.”

The Department of Corrections has refused to respond to any specific allegations pending completion of its own investigation. Corrections spokesman Bob Gore said that over the last four months, three female investigators working for the department’s affirmative action division have interviewed 120 individuals about the charges.

Findings of that investigation are expected to be released next week.

“The department has formal procedures for reporting sexual harassment, and it follows them,” Gore said. “We take all the allegations seriously and investigate them thoroughly.”

Tapes, Documents

Earlier in the day, the Rules Committee obtained nearly 70 audio tapes and hundreds of documents gathered in the course of the department’s investigation. A spokeswoman said the information will be turned over to committee members before next week’s confirmation hearing.

More former corrections officers are expected to testify against Campoy at that time. The committee must act on the appointment by March 16 or Campoy will have to step down under state law.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Labor Committee, the State Personnel Board and the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Prison Construction and Operations have launched investigations. The attorney general’s office is also investigating allegations of threats against the women who testified before the Rules Committee.

According to corrections figures, 17.6% of the state’s 6,060 corrections officers are women.