Male inmates at Alaska's Spring Creek Correctional Center were "sexually harassed" as punishment and forced to be walked naked on "dog leashes" in front of female staff, a New York Times report reveals.
A state government watchdog investigated the allegations at the maximum-security prison in Seward, Alaska after an inmate filed a complaint. In that probe, they found that 12 prisoners were "taken from their cells for reasons that were never officially explained, moved to a different location, unshackled and 'ordered to strip naked in front of female staff.'"
After being walked and leashed while nude around the prison, the man who filed the complaint said he was "placed naked in a cell that was filled with debris and feces."
The events took place over a 10-day period in 2013, and Alaska state ombudsman Kate Burkhart confirmed to the Times that the state's investigation concluded that the complainant's accusations did indeed happen.
“The allegations are so shocking that they are almost unbelievable,” Burkhart told the Times.
Along with the initial prisoner's complaint, Burkhart confirmed that several other inmates filed similar complaints, and that the prison staff who participated violate state and federal laws in doing so.
