Fed-X
08-01-2002, 07:24 PM
Guards accused of sex at prison
Women indicted on federal counts
By Sean Kelly
Denver Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 12, 2002 -
Two female former prison guards at the maximum security federal
penitentiary in Florence were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday
on
charges that they had sex with four male inmates, at least one of whom
is
serving a life sentence.
Kellee S. Kissinger, 34, a former manager at the prison, and Christine
Achenbach, 42, former assistant to the warden, are accused of sexual
abuse
of a ward.
Achenbach is now a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman for the Rio Grande
National Forest. Reached Thursday for comment, Achenbach said she was
unaware of the indictment and referred calls to her attorney, who could
not
be reached.
The allegations strike at the heart of the prison system, said Jeff
Dorschner, spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Suthers.
"Certainly there are two issues: The need to protect inmates from
coercion
and also to maintain order and discipline at the prison," Dorschner
said.
The alleged incidents occurred between August 2000 and May 2001 at the
U.S.
Penitentiary-Florence, part of a complex at the southern Colorado town
that
includes the nation's most secure federal prison, Supermax.
Both women are accused of having oral sex with inmate Ollie Perriman, a
cocaine dealer from Omaha, Neb., who is serving a life sentence.
Perriman
has since been moved to the federal correctional institution in
Englewood.
The grand jury also alleged that Kissinger had oral sex with Gerald
Bailey,
an inmate whose expected release date is 2013. Kissinger also had oral
sex
and intercourse with inmate Rickey Harris, according to the indictment.
In addition, the indictment alleges Achenbach fondled inmate Marvin
Linnear, a convicted heroin and cocaine dealer from Milwaukee who is
expected to be released in 2019.
The U.S. attorney's office issued summonses for the women Thursday in
lieu
of arrests. The women were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in
Denver on July 29 before U.S. Magistrate Boyd Boland.
If convicted on all counts, Kissinger could face up to four years in
prison
and $400,000 in fines. Achenbach could face up to 18 months in prison
and
$105,000 in fines.
It's the second time in two years a federal grand jury has indicted
prison
employees from Florence. Seven guards at the penitentiary were indicted
by
a federal grand jury in November 2000 for alleged abuse of inmates.
According to court documents, those guards were a renegade group called
"The Cowboys' who roamed the maximum-security penitentiary in 1995 and
1996
administering punishment ranging from smashing inmates' heads into walls
to
mixing human waste into prisoners' food.
This latest case is also not the first time that a female prison
employee
in Colorado has been accused of having sex with male inmates.
Alicia Bramall, 34, a guard at a state youth prison in Pueblo, was
charged
in May with one felony count of sexual misconduct in a penal institution
and two misdemeanor counts of second-degree official misconduct.
Prosecutors claim that Bramall had sex with two boys serving sentences
at
the juvenile prison in Pueblo between February and April.
Also in 1999, several female guards lost their jobs after accusations of
sexual impropriety and drug trafficking at the privately run Kit Carson
Correctional Facility in Burlington.
--
Teeside Associates
Specialists in Word/Data Processing Services
Women indicted on federal counts
By Sean Kelly
Denver Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 12, 2002 -
Two female former prison guards at the maximum security federal
penitentiary in Florence were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday
on
charges that they had sex with four male inmates, at least one of whom
is
serving a life sentence.
Kellee S. Kissinger, 34, a former manager at the prison, and Christine
Achenbach, 42, former assistant to the warden, are accused of sexual
abuse
of a ward.
Achenbach is now a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman for the Rio Grande
National Forest. Reached Thursday for comment, Achenbach said she was
unaware of the indictment and referred calls to her attorney, who could
not
be reached.
The allegations strike at the heart of the prison system, said Jeff
Dorschner, spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Suthers.
"Certainly there are two issues: The need to protect inmates from
coercion
and also to maintain order and discipline at the prison," Dorschner
said.
The alleged incidents occurred between August 2000 and May 2001 at the
U.S.
Penitentiary-Florence, part of a complex at the southern Colorado town
that
includes the nation's most secure federal prison, Supermax.
Both women are accused of having oral sex with inmate Ollie Perriman, a
cocaine dealer from Omaha, Neb., who is serving a life sentence.
Perriman
has since been moved to the federal correctional institution in
Englewood.
The grand jury also alleged that Kissinger had oral sex with Gerald
Bailey,
an inmate whose expected release date is 2013. Kissinger also had oral
sex
and intercourse with inmate Rickey Harris, according to the indictment.
In addition, the indictment alleges Achenbach fondled inmate Marvin
Linnear, a convicted heroin and cocaine dealer from Milwaukee who is
expected to be released in 2019.
The U.S. attorney's office issued summonses for the women Thursday in
lieu
of arrests. The women were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in
Denver on July 29 before U.S. Magistrate Boyd Boland.
If convicted on all counts, Kissinger could face up to four years in
prison
and $400,000 in fines. Achenbach could face up to 18 months in prison
and
$105,000 in fines.
It's the second time in two years a federal grand jury has indicted
prison
employees from Florence. Seven guards at the penitentiary were indicted
by
a federal grand jury in November 2000 for alleged abuse of inmates.
According to court documents, those guards were a renegade group called
"The Cowboys' who roamed the maximum-security penitentiary in 1995 and
1996
administering punishment ranging from smashing inmates' heads into walls
to
mixing human waste into prisoners' food.
This latest case is also not the first time that a female prison
employee
in Colorado has been accused of having sex with male inmates.
Alicia Bramall, 34, a guard at a state youth prison in Pueblo, was
charged
in May with one felony count of sexual misconduct in a penal institution
and two misdemeanor counts of second-degree official misconduct.
Prosecutors claim that Bramall had sex with two boys serving sentences
at
the juvenile prison in Pueblo between February and April.
Also in 1999, several female guards lost their jobs after accusations of
sexual impropriety and drug trafficking at the privately run Kit Carson
Correctional Facility in Burlington.
--
Teeside Associates
Specialists in Word/Data Processing Services