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* Some former Belleville News-Democrat folks have started a news site called the Metro East Meteor. Here’s one of their first stories by George Pawlaczyk and Beth Hundsdorfer…

Lying face-up on a gurney, her hands cuffed behind her back and four men holding her down by her arms and legs, Rasha Talafhah fought back the only way she could. She yelled, “Rape!”

Again and again she hollered. “Rape!…Rape!…Rape!”

Finally, someone came to her aid with one word: “Stop!”

The four Illinois Department of Corrections guards let her go and allowed her to sit up. But it was too late.

A physician’s assistant sexually assaulted her when he placed gloved fingers between her thighs and in her vagina during a forced cavity search, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Talafhah.

An Illinois State Police investigative report stated afterward that the physician’s assistant quickly left the room. Later, concerned by Talafhah’s cries of rape, he tearfully asked to be allowed to go home and didn’t report for work the next day. No contraband was found.

Go read the rest. And there’s video. It’s all disturbing.

* And here’s the follow-up. One of the guards who held Talafhah down was Bradley Jenkins…

Logan Correction Center guard Allissa Martin was popular with the inmates.

“She treated you with respect. She would listen to you,” said former inmate Rasha Talafhah, who was held for eight years at Logan. “Martin treated you like a person.”

Martin died in June from a fall from the seventh floor of a St. Louis parking garage. Police found Martin’s husband of a week and half, Bradley S. Jenkins, 31, standing over her body, covered in her blood.

Martin, 27, and Jenkins, who was a lieutenant at the prison, attended a Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals baseball game on June 2. The two argued. At some point during the altercation, police said, Martin rolled video on her cellphone.

Martin pointed the phone at herself, then to Jenkins, according to a probable cause statement.

The video caught Martin yelling at her new husband to stop punching her in the face. Then, she drops the phone.

Shortly after that, St. Louis Police Detective Mark West said, the video captures the sound of Martin’s scream as she falls.

Again, go read the whole thing.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 11:33 am

Comments

Well, lunch isn’t going to be a thing today, as reading those made me sick to my stomach.

Comment by thunderspirit Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 11:40 am
Did his interactions with law enforcement cause anyone at IDOC to start asking if he should be a guard?

Comment by OneMan Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 12:27 pm
Why isn’t Jenkins being charged with manslaughter? It appears Ms. Martin fell to her death trying to escape the pummeling she was receiving from him. I hope this piece of **** gets prison time. As a hopefully former prison guard, his stay wouldn’t be comfortable.

Comment by Cubs in '16 Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 12:37 pm
One thing that could be more clear in their reporting - since the stories posted on the same day - is that the Talafhah incident happened in 2015. Her commenting on Martin in the second story is not related to her case per se.

When I first read it, I thought the search might have been in retaliation for talking to the press, which is…. more sickening. Just wanted to clarify for anyone else that missed that detail trying to rush through the horror of those two stories.

In agreement with other commenters: it certainly does seem this individual lacks the calm and sober judgment to work in corrections. Or be someone’s husband. Those stories are a lot.

Comment by lakeside Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 12:47 pm
This type of abuse is common…always hidden behind brick walls and razor wire.

What happens behind Prison walls…reflects the true nature of any society…in terms of human rights violations…and common decency.

This criminal assault violates both.

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 1:25 pm
What is the union’s position on this?

Comment by Downstate Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 1:28 pm
What was done to Miss Talafhah is un-excusable and she went about it the correct way, she called a PREA and she is taking it to court. What the paper did not tell you was she had a history while at that prison to hide razors and other contraband in body cavities. that was the reason for the medical body cavity search. if there is reasonable cause to believe that an offender has contraband and hidden in a body cavity the CAO can call for a body cavity search by medical Doctor.
and yes Miss Talafhah is correct Officer Martin was a good Officer, she was one of my officers when i was at that correctional center and she was real good with the female offenders. She is greatly missed.

Comment by C. McClure/ Snoop Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 1:29 pm
DOC is due for a ‘redo’. Too many examples of shady characters both working there as well as behind bars. Check out the person in charge of the eye glass department - mysterious admin leave with pay since the spring.

Comment by former state employee Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 2:42 pm
What was done to Miss Talafhah is un-excusable and she went about it the correct way, she called a PREA and she is taking it to court. - C. Mcclure /Snoop

So… you condemn the actions of these employees?

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 2:42 pm
=What is the union’s position on this?=

Trolling is always so classy.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 3:00 pm
= =What is the union’s position on this?=

Trolling is always so classy. =

I would regard it as a fair question, correctional officers have a profile that is in many ways similar to police officers - and Chicago’s FOP is known for defending inexcusable behavior by its own members.

Comment by cover Monday, Jul 29, 19 @ 5:02 pm