Male 'posing' as transgender allegedly raped inmate at all-women facility on Rikers Island, lawsuit says

Warning: This report includes details some would find graphic or disturbing.

A female inmate at an all-women correctional facility in New York has filed a lawsuit alleging that a male inmate raped her after he was given access to the facility by posing as "transgender." Once inside, he was granted private access to women, including in bathrooms and as they were sleeping in bed.

Now, she is suing the city.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed by an anonymous plaintiff identified as "Rose Doe," staff at the Rose M. Singer women’s jail on Rikers Island ignored her complaints about the male prisoner, who sexually propositioned, groped and raped her within days of him moving into the facility, the New York Post reported.

The legal filing says the male prisoner, who is not named in the suit, moved into the facility on April 4, 2022, and Doe claims the rape took place on April 7. The alleged sexual assault stemmed from an incident on April 6, when the unnamed male stared at Doe "while he masturbated" and groped her in the bathroom.

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The Rikers Island jail sign is seen on March 7, 2023 in New York City. An anonymous plaintiff identified as "Rose Doe" is suing the city and a pair of corrections officers. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The lawsuit, filed in November 2023, says the alleged perpetrator admitted to another inmate that "he was not transgender, or gay, but that he was just there ‘to get p–y,’" per the report.

In the lawsuit, Doe also claims the alleged perpetrator was initially given access to the facility after he was encouraged to lie about his identity by Corrections Department staff.

Fox News reached out to the New York Department of Corrections but did not immediately receive a response.

The legal filing specifically names correction officers Jennifer Cruz and Rashida King as defendants in the lawsuit. A total of 20 defendants are named in the lawsuit, including the City of New York.

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The City of New York told Fox News that they could not "comment on specifics of this lawsuit as it is active litigation."

He was "instructed to claim that he was transgender by DOC staff so that he could stay in the female dorm where he would have access to female inmates," the filing states.

According to the filing, "Rose Doe" wrote at least two complaints about the male inmate immediately after the initial incident on April 6. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Nicholas Liakas, who is representing Doe, told The Post on Wednesday that some people have corroborated the claim.

"We have some accounts from inside the prison that as the [transfer] request was being made…the [DOC] officer said something along the lines of ‘if you want to go into the women’s facility, all you have to do is say you’re trans,’" Liakas said.

According to the filing, Doe wrote at least two complaints about the male inmate immediately after the initial incident on April 6, which were reviewed by the acting warden. The warden then relayed the complaint to the correction staff that the inmate ought to be removed, but he was not.

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The next morning, Doe said she awoke to the alleged perpetrator removing her clothes and raping her.

"While [Doe] was sleeping in her bed, the Perpetrator, took the opportunity to sexually assault [Doe] again… pull[ing] down her pants while she was sleeping and begin[ing] to rape her," the lawsuit claims.

The plaintiff was discharged from the facility in August 2022. (James Keivom/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The other women in the housing unit then assisted in throwing out the male's belongings, per the lawsuit. However, the defendants named in the lawsuit had a different reaction, as Doe claims they punished her instead of removing him.

Doe was discharged from the facility in August 2022.