Hitoshi Nishimura
‘Horror Show’: Inside the ‘Systemic Failure,’ Guard Corruption and Abuse at Kentucky’s Prisons
Kentucky may need to make more room behind bars — for its crooked, sex-crazed prison guards after a shocking investigation into corruption and abuse!
So far, Bluegrass State officials have fingered 30 guards for kinky attacks on inmates and busted another 14 unscrupulous jailers for smuggling drugs!
“It’s a horror show,” declares a government insider exclusively to In Touch. “Usually, you’ll see one or two bad apples acting outside the bounds of good ethics, but to have such a systemic failure is a total disgrace!”
In all, a total of 140 prison staffers were investigated over 16 months ending in November 2023, with 62 either getting pink-slipped or resigning in shame.
In one case, a now 39-year-old prison guard was caught having sex with an inmate at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville.
In another instance last year, a probation officer at the Daviess County Detention Center in Owensboro got knocked up by a paroled convict. In perhaps the most repugnant episode, a convict slapped state prison officials with legal papers claiming they knew the chaplain at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty was sexually abusing inmates — but did nothing to stop it!
The chaplain was eventually hit with sodomy and sexual abuse charges after cops cops caught him on tape making sexual demands in the chapel. He even threatened inmates with prison vengeance if they didn’t play ball, sources dish.
Shame Exposed!
Incredibly, tone-deaf prison officials boast the alarming number of staffers who have been sacked is proof they’re rigorously enforcing the rules.
“If we were not handling these situations in a very aggressive manner, the numbers would not be what they were,” crows Scott Jordan, deputy commissioner of the state’s 14 adult confinement centers.
Experts blast the Kentucky prison system for leaving 53 percent of its staff positions vacant, which forces guards to log extraordinary amounts of overtime.
“In the popular imagination, we think of prison guards as being exposed to extreme forms of violence, and of course, that can happen,” says Judah Schept, an associate professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University.
“But more often, I think what you’re dealing with are mundane daily tasks and being unappreciated and underpaid, and feeling isolated and overworked. Given where you’re working, this can lead to some problems.”
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