LEXINGTON, Kentucky – A group of West Virginia attorneys have filed a second lawsuit claiming another female federal inmate was raped, sexually assaulted and battered while incarcerated at a Kentucky prison.
The plaintiff, identified only as L.C., filed the complaint May 8 in federal court against the federal government and Residential Drug Abuse Program Instructor Hosea Lee at the Federal Medical Center Lexington.
The core group of her attorneys, including L. Dante diTrapano, are from West Virginia and have filed several similar lawsuits in recent years, including one last month related to the same prison.
diTrapano
“Correctional officers using their authority, control and power to rape female inmates is an epidemic in our prison system,” diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “These women were not sentenced to sexual abuse.”
According to the complaint, L.C. was transferred to Federal Medical Center Lexington. After two weeks there, she went to Lee’s office to finish her required Aftercare in the RDAP program.
By passing Aftercare, L.C. could secure incentives such as early release, money, preferred living quarters, special recognition privileges and personal property allowances. But failure had consequences.
“The power which defendant Lee’s job afforded him made inmates such as L.C. very vulnerable to any illicit demands he might choose to make, and Lee fully exploited this power for his sexual gratification,” the complaint states.
L.C. says Lee began giving inordinate and inappropriate attention to her as soon as her class started in August 2019. She says he sexualized questions from the textbook for her and that he targeted her for sexual harassment.
Following a birthday party, another inmate told L.C. that Lee wanted to see her in his office. When she arrived, Lee asked L.C. how long it had been since she had been with a man.
“Startled and not knowing what to do or say, plaintiff replied that she had been in prison for a long time so it had been quite a while,” the complaint states. “Defendant Lee then stood up, moved to the doorway and looked up and down the hall which was clear of any other persons.”
Then, Lee ordered L.C. into his office closet and raped her. When he was done, he cleaned himself and told L.C. to “come back next week.”
A few days later, L.C. says she discovered a rash on her vagina but didn’t go to the medical unit because she was afraid it would get back to Lee and get her in trouble. A few weeks later, a test showed she had contracted herpes.
L.C. says she tried to stop subsequent incidents with Lee by falsely telling him she was in the middle of her menstrual cycle. Lee told her that he wanted her to return to his office for sex as soon as her period ended, but she says he forced her into his closed and sexually assaulted her anyway. He then ordered her to return a number of times every two weeks.
L.C. says Lee raped her at least three times and forced her to perform oral sex on him at least twice. She says he also would occasionally rub himself against her for his sexual gratification.
She says she didn’t report the incidents at first for fear of retaliation by Lee. She says the stress of the situation caused her to use suboxone, which caused her to fail a drug test. It was then when L.C. reported to officials that she had been sexually victimized by Lee.
Following more interviews, L.C. was treated for herpes. That’s when a staff member in the FMC medical department told her “they (meaning Lee’s alleged victims) have all got herpes.”
She says a counselor indicated to her that what she had reported about Lee could get back to him and that “we all are responsible for our choices,” which she interpreted to mean she was to blame for her sexual interactions with Lee.
L.C. now is serving time at Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia, but she says she continues to suffer retaliation by being isolated from the general population, ostracized by guards and bullied by other inmates because she filed the report.
She says Lee violated her Eighth Amendment right to not being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. She also accuses the federal government of assault and battery and negligence under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
L.C. seeks compensatory damages as well as punitive damages from Lee. She also seeks attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
She is being represented by diTrapano, Benjamin Adams and Alex McLaughlin of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston; Jay T. McCamic of McCamic Law Firm in Wheeling, Anthony I. Werner of John & Werner Law Offices in Wheeling as well as by David G. Bryant of David Bryant Law in Louisville, Kentucky. The case has been assigned to District Judge Gregory F. VanTatenhove.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky case number 5:21-cv-00124