Former Alabama prison inmates describe abuse, harassment behind bars
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013 file photo, razor wire and towers contain the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, in Wetumpka, Ala. In January 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report that put a spotlight on what it called conditions of sexual abuse and harassment by correctional staff at the Alabama’s only prison for women. State officials vehemently disagree with the federal assessment. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File) (The Associated Press)
Like most preschoolers, the 3-year-old girl who lives in Montgomery is a whirl of energy. She sings and dances through the house and loves cartoons.
About once a month a relative takes her to visit at Alabama's Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women where her mother, Monica Washington, is incarcerated on a robbery conviction. Her father was an officer at the prison and pleaded guilty in 2011 to custodial sexual misconduct after a DNA test showed he had gotten Washington pregnant, said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney with the nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative.
In January, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report that put a spotlight on what it called conditions of sexual abuse and harassment by correctional staff at Alabama's only prison for women.