‘Hell On Earth’: Lawsuits Amass For South Carolina Jail As Inmate Raped Multiple Times Awaiting Trial
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A South Carolina jail is under fire for its horrific reputation of inmates being violently and brutally assaulted while awaiting trial.
Attorneys Bakari Sellers and Alexandra Benevento with the Strom Law Firm were recently hired to represent a 21-year-old man who was repeatedly raped by multiple inmates and a guard while awaiting trial on a simple drug charge.
According to a press release sent to NewsOne by the attorneys, the victim was sexually assaulted on at least two different occasions beginning on Aug. 26 by four different perpetrators.
“One sexual assault is too many. One time is unacceptable,” said Sellers. “This young man was subjected to multiple assaults by multiple perpetrators, including an Alvin S. Glenn detention officer. And after the first assault, jail staff returned this young man to the same dorm where the first assault occurred. They literally sent the victim back to the scene of the crime so he could be sexually assaulted again.”
The victim is only the latest in a long and ever-growing line of victims at Richland County’s troubled jail.
Since 27-year-old Orangeburg resident Lason Butler’s February 2022 death was ruled a homicide by Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford due to the “lack of action” by the jail’s staff, Strom Law Firm attorneys have brought seven additional lawsuits against Richland County and Alvin S. Glenn officials on behalf of numerous other detainees who were violently and brutally assaulted while awaiting trial.
“How many more beatings, stabbings, sexual assaults and deaths need to happen on their watch before Richland County takes some meaningful action?” asked Benevento.
“Alvin S. Glenn is hell on earth. It is a war zone. Every single member of the public should be outraged by these horrific failures. This is every parent’s nightmare. Our client is presumed innocent, detained for a non-violent drug charge. Instead of keeping him safe, the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, through its inexcusable incompetence and indifference, set the stage for the most horrific and unimaginable violations someone can experience. This young man’s life is forever changed. When is enough going to be enough?”
In February, Sellers and Benevento called on the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division to investigate the jail due to the subhuman conditions, neglect and violent attacks.
“The issues with ASGDC’s understaffing and staff conduct are further demonstrated in the cases of an additional five individuals represented by Strom Law Firm,” Sellers wrote in a letter to DOJ. “Each of these clients was attacked in the jail, sometimes with prison-made or contraband weapons, while inmates have been let out to roam without adequate supervision in their dorms. They have suffered gruesome injuries, including stab wounds, fractures, and significant emotional trauma, requiring days of hospitalization or treatment. A common theme among these cases is the inappropriate conduct of the detention center staff.”
Click here to read the full letter.
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