A released female inmate is suing the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) over what she claims were repeated sexual assaults by her ex-cellmate, a man who was transferred to the women’s prison after he suddenly “discovered” he was female.
Mozzy Clark alleges in her lawsuit that officials at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor turned a blind eye to Christopher Williams’ threats, sexual remarks, and groping of her. In addition, they “allegedly threatened Clark by telling her going public with her claims would be considered a ‘hate crime,’” reported Fox News.
Said Clark:
My experience at WCCW was a nightmare. I lived in constant fear, knowing that those who were supposed to protect me not only ignored my pleas for help but enabled my abuser. This cannot continue to happen to others.
Transgender Sex Offender
The 6-foot-4-inch Williams, age 35, is currently serving a 28.5-year sentence for a 2012 domestic-violence incident. As a juvenile, he was twice brought before the law for sexually assaulting his younger sister. He was later convicted of failing to register as a sex offender.
He began serving his present sentence at a men’s prison, wrote National Review. While there,
he allegedly assaulted a male prison officer to the point that the officer was rendered unconscious…. Williams admitted to the confrontation.
One day, Williams decided he was transgender and asked to be transferred to a women’s prison. DOC officials obliged, placing him in WCCW.
According to National Review:
During the pandemic, Williams, who identified as a woman but has no known female name, asked to be housed with [Clark], claiming his roommate was bullying him. But once they were placed together, Williams started making lewd comments toward her.
Such comments became a regular feature of Williams’ interactions with Clark, leaving no doubt as to his intentions toward her.
Eventually, Williams moved beyond mere words. He took advantage of the fact that Clark was heavily medicated at night to help her cope with night terrors from having been raped as a child.
“One night, Ms. Clark woke up and saw inmate Williams sitting on the floor next to her bed with his arm under her blanket, rubbing her genitals,” the New York Post quoted Clark’s lawsuit. Clark told National Review she only awakened because a prison guard caught Williams in the act and told him to get back in his own bed. She also said she’d discovered Williams beside her bed on at least three other occasions. Once woke up to find her shirt had been pulled up above her breasts.
Shower Heads
The Post reported:
Clark said the guards did little to protect her when she complained. Eventually Williams was moved to a separate cell, but the inmate would seek her out, stare at her in the showers, and follow her into the bathroom — making perverted comments from the next stall, the documents alleged.
“He also started threatening her with violence if she complained about him again,” according to the suit, which is asking for restitution from the state for “extreme emotional distress, shame, intimidation, humiliation, indignation, embarrassment, and fear.”
Leering at women in the showers seems to be a popular pastime among the 11 or more “transgender” prisoners at WCCW. Some of those have also sexually abused female inmates, National Review found. One female inmate told the magazine:
Our shower stalls don’t go up to our heads. And the bathroom stalls, same thing. A bunch of women, when they’re in the showers, these people are just standing there. They don’t have to stand on their tippy toes and they look over and see everything. People were so uncomfortable. You feel kind of like you’ve been violated.
Clark’s attorney David Pivtorak told Fox News:
Prison officials knowingly placed my client in harm’s way, disregarding her safety and basic human rights. This lawsuit seeks to hold the Department of Corrections accountable for policies that enabled the victimization of women in their custody.
As the complaint further notes:
Prison officials were well aware that allowing biological males into a female prison creates a substantially increased risk of harm to female prisoners, including intimidation, violence, and sexual assault.
Prison Blues
In deep-blue Washington, however, such obvious risks to female inmates pale in comparison to the risk of making a transgender prisoner unhappy. Questioned about Clark’s lawsuit by Seattle’s KIRO, the DOC refused comment but referred the station to its Transgender Housing Policy. There, the DOC attempted to counter alleged “misinformation” concerning its trans policy at WCCW.
The DOC “strongly emphasizes the importance of inclusion and representation by recognizing the unique challenges that non-binary and transgender incarcerated people face,” reads the website. The department has “procedures to ensure equitable treatment of transgender, intersex and/or gender non-binary people.” The web page emphasizes that
It is DOC’s position that a person’s right to safe and humane treatment does not change based on their gender identity.
Apparently, though, it does change based on a person’s actual sex. Despite all the reports of “trans” prisoners assaulting female inmates, the DOC has this to say:
A common myth perpetuated about people who are transgender is that they will commit crimes of assault against vulnerable populations. This is not the case.
Perhaps Clark’s lawsuit will change officials’ minds. Or at least force them to do the right thing in spite of their blinkered ideology.
