Posted on: Friday, March 4, 2005
Prison assault charges filed
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A prison guard accused of sexually assaulting two Hawai'i woman while they were serving sentences in Colorado has been charged there with two felonies.
Russell E. Rollison, 31, was charged with two counts of sexual assault in a prison. A conviction could net a one- to three-year prison term and between $1,000 and $100,000 in fines for each count, according to Hawai'i prison officials.
Gil Walker, president of GRW Corp., which owns the Brush Correctional Facility near Denver, visited Honolulu yesterday at the state's request to explain what happened and what changes will be made to keep Hawai'i inmates safe.
"I can assure you that your ladies are safe and are being taken care of medically, emotionally, physically," Walker said during a news conference yesterday at the state Department of Public Safety offices on Ala Moana Boulevard. "It is a very unfortunate incident that occurred."
The assaults allegedly took place Jan. 8, according to Richard T. Bissen Jr., Department of Public Safety interim director, and the two inmates, ages 23 and 35, have been returned to Hawai'i and are now in the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua.
"Upon being notified, the department requested they be put in protective custody so they wouldn't be retaliated against by any other guards," Bissen said. "We were concerned about their safety."
Walker said there have been two other incidents at the Colorado prison recently: A guard allegedly passed notes to a female inmate and the prison's substance abuse director allegedly had sexual contact with another inmate.
The guard accused of passing notes was asked to resign for breaching company rules, and the other incident remains under investigation, Walker said.
Prison warden Rick Soares resigned on Feb. 18, but Walker said that was not related to any of the current accusations.
Walker said the guard involved in the Hawai'i case is a former police officer in Colorado who was highly recommended and carefully screened.
"We did everything we could do to check out his background and character and so forth," he said. "We are not pleased that it happened."
Walker said the incident took place in the prison law library. The guard contends the sex was consensual, he said.
Honolulu attorney Myles Breiner represents the two Hawai'i inmates.
Walker said new security measures have been taken in the prison library to better monitor guards' whereabouts, and the library will be moved to a location more visible to other guards. He also said staff will be required to review sexual harassment and ethics policies.
Hawai'i has 80 female inmates in Brush because of insufficient room in the Kailua women's prison, the only women's prison in Hawai'i.
The Hawai'i inmates were moved last August from a state-run Oklahoma prison to Colorado.
The Brush prison for women has 250 beds and houses 73 Colorado inmates and 43 Wyoming inmates along with the Hawai'i prisoners.
Hawai'i has 1,600 prisoners on the Mainland. It costs an average $51.90 to house inmates at Brush and $102 a day here, Bissen said.
He said two Hawai'i monitors were sent to investigate the situation last month and interview inmates and he is satisfied the prison is safe for the women.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
