Haltom City Police SCANDAL - 12/28/2002
Posted on Sat, Dec. 28, 2002
4 more women allege jail abuse
By Mike Lee
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
HALTOM CITY - Four more women filed federal civil-rights lawsuits against the city Friday, claiming they were sexually harassed while serving time in the Haltom City Jail.
The latest lawsuits bring to 12 the number of women alleging a pattern of problems in the jail, including verbal harassment and rape.
Three of the women who filed the latest lawsuits name Clint Wade Weaver as the jailer who harassed them. He is also named in several of the previously filed lawsuits.
Weaver, of Azle, pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor charge of official oppression after a woman said she was forced to have sex in exchange for early release from the jail. He was sentenced to two years' probation. He was indicted in October on one count of sexual assault and two counts of improper sexual activity with a person in custody in connection with treatment of female inmates.
Haltom City officials maintain that Weaver is the only jailer who abused inmates. The city's attorney, Jim Jeffrey, has asked U.S. District Judge Terry Means to dismiss the first eight lawsuits.
Jeffrey was unavailable to comment Friday on the most recent lawsuits, and city officials said they had not seen them.
According to allegations in the latest lawsuits:
• A woman who was 17 at the time was forced to strip in front of a male guard. Like other female inmates, she had to wear a one-piece jumpsuit without underwear. Because of the jumpsuit's design, her breasts were exposed when she used the toilet. The woman and her husband tried to file a complaint against the jailer but came to believe that "police in Haltom City would not investigate one of their own and feared what would happen to them if they followed through with a complaint against the jailer."
• Weaver forced a 23-year-old woman to shower in front of him and later refused to give her feminine hygiene products. She said Weaver told her, "I've never had sex with a black girl before." The woman also said jailers watched her use the toilet through the cell windows or over video cameras.
• A 25-year-old woman was forced to wear a tight jumpsuit after Weaver made comments about the size of her breasts. Then she was placed in a cell with male inmates. Another jailer rubbed against her in "a sexually charged sliding motion" while she was working in the booking area. She said she tried to cover herself with a blanket once while using the toilet, but a jailer told her, "That's too bad. It is just part of the punishment."
• A 36-year-old woman said Weaver asked her to show her breasts when she was scheduled to be released. When she refused, she was kept in her cell for six more hours.
Nine other women originally sued, saying they were forced to have sex with guards and were videotaped in the showers or toilet stalls. One woman has since dropped her lawsuit.
The amount of damages being sought is unspecified, but all the women say their civil rights were violated. Jim Skinner of Dallas, an attorney for the former inmates, said Haltom City officials neglected their duty to supervise the jail.
"The safest place you ought to be is when you're confined and under the scrutiny of your jailer," he said.
Depositions are scheduled to begin soon in the first round of lawsuits. Skinner said information from the depositions might be used to identify other victims.
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Mike Lee, (817) 685-3858 mikelee@star-telegram.com
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