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Last month, a lawsuit was filed against the Clark County jail in a US District Court in Indiana. The suit alleges that an ex-corrections officer at the jail provided male inmates with a key to the women’s unit. And a number of female inmates were attacked and raped.

The 20 women who are suing the sheriff’s department, were incarcerated in the women’s section of the county jail on Oct. 24, 2021. The alleged attacks took place despite the presence of cameras and the women’s attempts to call for help, the plaintiffs’ attorney Bart Betteau said.

Female inmates sue the jail

At least five male inmates wearing towels and blankets covering their heads and faces attacked the women. They knew the attacks would be on camera and were trying to hide their identities.

 It is alleged that “at approximately 11:30 pm, two male inmates used keys to enter each of the female pods.” They were given the keys by corrections officer David Lowe. Lowe has since been fired.

 According to the court documents, some of the women were raped. The attackers exposed themselves, made death threats, and groped the female inmates. And the attack took place over several hours. 

Finally, “a female inmate hit the emergency button and began screaming to call for the correction officers. The male inmates retreated.”

“These females were doing everything they could to alert the jail staff. They were pounding on the door for help. They were hitting the buzzer on the inside of the pod in order to alert jail staff,” according to Betteau.

The officer advised the female inmates that they had lost their “dark” privileges. And the lights remained on in the female pods for the next 72 hours. 

According to the lawsuit, “Over the next several days, the female inmates were put on lockdown and taken to holding cells to be questioned. The following Saturday, at approximately 8:30 am, the corrections officers returned and “shook down” the female inmates. Officers removed the females’ personal items, including razors, pillows, blankets, colored pencils, etc.”

No male inmate was charged with the assaults. No rape kits were provided to the victims. 

The guard, David Lowe was arrested hours after the alleged attacks and is facing a misdemeanor and two felony charges over the incident.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Department has not issued a statement.