Arizona teacher raped while administering exam to prisoners. AZ Attorney General: She knew the risks

[Panich52]

DailyKos

Arizona teacher raped while administering exam to prisoners. AZ Attorney General: She knew the risks
by Jen Hayden

A woman who works as a teacher for the Arizona Department of Corrections suffered a brutal rape at the hands of a prisoner Jacob Harvey. Due to a special event, she was in a room without guards or cameras and had just finished administering a GED test when the unthinkable happened:

According to the lawsuit, the 20-year-old inmate grabbed her from behind and took her to the ground as she struggled. He then stabbed her repeatedly in the head with a pen, choked her, slammed her head into the floor, tore away her clothes and raped her, the lawsuit says.

The teacher told investigators she screamed for help, but no one came. After the attack, {Jacob} Harvey tried to use her radio to call for help but it was tuned to a channel the guards didn't even use. Eventually, Harvey allowed her to phone for help.

This week the Arizona Attorney General's office is asking for her subsequent lawsuit to be tossed, on the grounds that she should've known better: {emphasis added}

"Plaintiff is an ADOC (Arizona Department of Corrections) employee who routinely worked at the prison complex," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Weisbard wrote in his motion to dismiss. "By being placed in a classroom at the complex, the officers were not placing Plaintiff in any type of situation that she would not normally face. The risk of harm, including assault, always existed at a prison like Eyman."

Not placing her at risk? The rapist, Jacob Harvey, was there for another brutal rape:

And why she would be left alone with an inmate who less than a year before had been sentenced to nearly 30 years after a daytime home invasion in which he beat and raped a Glendale woman in front of her toddler.

The system failed her in all ways:

The lawsuit blames corrections employees for failing to establish proper security and its health care provider for not providing a mental health evaluation to the prisoner. That allowed the 20-year-old convicted rapist to be classified as a relatively low-risk offender and gain access to the classroom in January 2014.

The Arizona Attorney General's office should be ashamed of their attitude and efforts to dismiss the lawsuit. The unidentified woman is seeking $4 million in damages. Hopefully a jury will do the right thing since the state of Arizona won't.
See Arizona Republic Columnists Laurie Roberts and Ed Montini discuss the case here. http://www.azcentral.com/story/laurieroberts/2015/02/03/arizona-prison-teacher-rape/22813107/

More links in original:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/04/1362285/-Arizona-teacher-raped-while-administering-exam-to-prisoners-District-Attorney-She-knew-the-risks?detail=email

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AZ AG: Another soldier in the War on Women

[niyad]

1. there are words, but I would probably get a pizza for saying them.

may that woman-hating excuse for a human receive everything he deserves.

[QuebecYank]

2. The prisoner's action doesn't surprise me...

But, the Attorney General's response, is part of that Right-wing mindset, that rape isn't a big deal, which is a roundabout way of saying that there's no need for an abortion. People making excuses for rapists need to be out of government jobs, and seeking therapy. Next thing you know, the Right will be making excuses for pedophiles.

[Panich52]

3. I want to know why she was left alone in a room w/ prisoners, not to mention a convicted rapist.

[QuebecYank]

4. All the more reason to sue. It almost seems as if it was a set up.