KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In her own words, a woman who was an inmate talked to FOX 4 about being raped inside her cell at the Jackson County jail, and she’s not the only victim who reported an attack.
“I heard the door being opened to the cell, and when I turned around, or tried to turn around, the guy was in the bed with me,” the victim said.
The women who reported being raped told FOX 4’s Monica Evans the attack lasted more than an hour, and she claims it was nearly 24-hours before she got any medical help. She said she was arrested for a fight, and ended up fighting for her life from a male inmate who punched her in the face, choked her and then sexually assaulted her.
“I was sexually assaulted by another inmate that had a key,” the victim explained.
The mother of two says a male inmate at the jail raped her Friday morning. She says he entered her cell inside the Jackson County detention center at 4 o’clock in the morning.
“I thought he was a guard at first. Pretty much got in the bed with me and you can just imagine,” she said.
The woman who police are calling “Victim #2” says she was raped for about an hour, and the assault didn’t stop until she heard someone in the hallway.
“Someone whistled that the guards were coming, and he jumped up and hid in the corner until the coast was cleared, then he left and locked the door behind him,” she said.
The woman also tells FOX 4 after the attack she tried to get the guards’ attention, but they just walked by her cell.
“There was nobody, nobody walking pass, and if somebody walking pass they walked by so fast, that if you tried to speak to them, they kept on going.”
She says she didn’t get medical attention for 22 hours after the assault, and that’s only because she started yelling at the guards.
“I was so upset I started cursing the guards, that’s the only way I got their attention finally, and I was always taught you respect people, but I had to disrespect in order to get heard,” she said.
A spokesperson for the jail says the corrections department has engaged in a thorough review of the actions of all staff in relation to this incident.
While no staff have been accused of being part of the attacks, as a result of this internal review, one staff member has been suspended without pay for potentially violating the policies and procedures of the corrections department.
“I would just like for them to be retrained and treat the inmates like human beings instead of animals,” the victim said.
In a joint statement by Kansas City Mayor Sly James and Jackson County Executive Frank White regarding the rape they say:
“We are both shocked and deeply troubled to learn of the recently alleged assaults.”
The statement went on to say the county has hired former United States Attorney Todd Graves to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into this matter.
Kansas City’s city manager, Troy Schulte, has called an immediate and full investigation into the alleged assaults inside the jail, and has also transferred all female inmates from Kansas City out of the jail. Twelve were sent to the Platte County jail, seven were released on signature bonds and two were released early.
Schulte added that no female inmates from Kansas City will be admitted to the Jackson County jail until the issues that led to the attacks are resolved.
Complete Joint Statement from Mayor Sly James and County Executive Frank White
“We are both shocked and deeply troubled to learn of the recently alleged assaults at the Regional Correctional Center. Those responsible will be held accountable and all other necessary changes will be made swiftly. Jackson County and Kansas City are both committed to the original purposes of a regional correctional center. We have and will continue to work towards creating efficiencies while serving our constituencies better. However, those efforts will not be effective as long as misuses of power continue to exist. The County has hired former United States Attorney Todd Graves to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into this matter.”
