TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Another federal prison inmate says she was sexually and physically assaulted and abused by an officer who since has been indicted for similar actions.
The woman, identified only as S.P., filed her complaint August 13 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida against the federal government, Officer Jimmy Highsmith and Nakamoto Group Inc. The case is similar to two other lawsuits filed last year by Federal Correctional Institute Tallahassee inmates.
“Corrections officers using their authority, control and power to rape female inmates is an epidemic in our prison system,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “These women were not sentenced to sexual abuse.”
diTrapano
DiTrapano, who works for the law firm of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston, also has filed similar cases regarding federal prisons in West Virginia.
The 47-page complaint details Highsmith’s history of sexual abuse against prisoners dating back to at least 2014, and it also alleges Nakamoto failed to live up to its contract to audit the Bureau of Prisons’ Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
According to the complaint, Highsmith was hired by the BOP in 2007. He transferred to Federal Correctional Institute Tallahassee in 2010.
In 2014, Highsmith was accused of sexually assaulting at least one inmate at FCI Tallahassee. After an investigation, officials said he “likely sexually abused inmates” and that his denials “were not credible” and were “inconsistent.” Officials, including Warden Jones, were aware of the allegations against Highsmith, “yet she did not seek to have Highsmith removed.”
Jones decided Highsmith’s punishment would be a 10-day suspension. One of the women, identified as T.D., filed a complaint in federal court in January 2017 against the federal government, Highsmith and others alleging she had been sexually assaulted by Highsmith. The case was settled in February 2018 “for a considerable monetary amount.”
According to the complaint, Highsmith’s harassment and abuse of S.P. began in 2018. She was h oused in the D-Unit where he was a supervisor. His conduct included paying inordinate attention to S.P., visiting her living area, making sexual commentary and getting physically close to her with no reason to do so.
In June 2018, she says Highsmith demanded she lift her gown while conducting his rounds, telling her to expose her breasts and genitals to him. She refused, and she then began trying to evade him when he entered the housing unit or pretending to sleep during his rounds.
“In the weeks following her refusal of his order to lift her gown, S.P. awoke when she felt defendant Highsmith rubbing her leg and asking her why she was sleeping so much,” the complaint states.
Another incident she details is when she went to Highsmith’s office to get the remote control for the television. When he told her to come into the office to grab it, she says he was sitting at his desk with his penis in his hand. He told her to “grab this (his penis) while you’re at it”
She details another incident when she was in Highsmith’s office after trying to avoid him. Once there, she says he pulled her closer to him and said, “Let me see how tight that p-ssy is,” before he forced his hand down her pants and repeatedly shoved his fingers inside her vagina.
She also details a later incident when Highsmith wrote her up for discipline after she refused to go to his office upon request and sent her to the Special Housing Unit, or solitary confinement.
“Highsmith set this coercive and retaliatory use of the inmate discipline system in motion and other BOP staff … were aware that the reason that S.P. was being disciplined was that she was not going to remain silent on the subject of defendant Highsmith’s widely known practice of sexually assaulting inmates, nor was she going to take orders from him that put her at risk of being sexually assaulted by him again,” the complaint states.
Highsmith continued to work at FCI Tallahassee and continued to sexually assault female inmates until he was transferred to another BOP facility. At least one of those women also filed a federal lawsuit against the federal government, Highsmith and others.
In February, Highsmith was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of sexually abusing three inmates.
“The public places its trust in sworn law enforcement and correctional officers that they will represent the finest in our society, not the worst,” U.S. Attorney for the Norther District of Florida Lawrence Keefe said of Highsmith. “Sadly, the charges contained in his indictment reflect the worst – an individual allegedly taking advantage of his position of trust to inflict harm on those under his care.”
S.P. accuses Highsmith of sexual abuse, battery and sexual assault as well as violating her Eighth Amendment right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. She accuses the federal government of negligence as well as assault and battery. She accuses Nakamoto of negligence and breach of contract.
She seeks compensatory damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief. She also seeks punitive damages from Highsmith.
She is being represented by diTrapano, Benjamin Adams and Alex McLaughlin with Calwell Luce diTrapano; Jay T. McCamic of McCamic Law Firm in Wheeling; Anthony I. Werner of John & Werner Law Offices in Wheeling; and Steven R. Andrews and Ryan J. Andrews of The Andrews Law Firm in Tallahassee.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida case number 4:21-cv-00338