BOP Official Reportedly Had Sexual Relationship With Former Police Union Head
by Bill Barton
A Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General report from September 24, 2019, found that an assistant director of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) took part in a sexual and financial relationship with a former president of the prison workers’ union, who at the time was employed in that role. The relationship included the transmission of sexually explicit photographs from the BOP official’s agency phone to the union official.
The officials were not named in the brief public report, but — according to USA Today coverage of the story — officials familiar with the matter identified the BOP official as Judith Garrett and the ex-prison union chief as Eric Young, who served in that capacity through August 2019.
The BOP said “the assistant director had been removed from a management position in July 2018.”
“The BOP will take appropriate actions in response to the (inspector general’s) findings,” the agency’s statement said, but declined prosecution of Garrett.
Young’s successor as union president, Shane Fausey, said the findings were “a surprise,” and “We are convening an emergency meeting of the board right now. We’re going to have to look back at everything to see what related to him (Young) and whether there were conflicts of interest. I want to be clear, he (Young) is the former president.”
The DOJ IG found that Garrett’s alleged relationship with Young was, in addition to being inappropriate, “a conflict of interest in violation of federal regulations and BOP policy.” Both Garrett and Young declined to comment.
The IG also found that Garrett allegedly had an improper relationship with a BOP contractor and lied about it when confronted by federal investigators. Dominic Henry, a former prisoner who served as a bureau consultant for newly released prisoners, alleged that Garrett sought an improper relationship with him.
Sources: usatoday.com, DOJ Inspector General Report
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More from Bill Barton:
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- Devastating Consequences of Chicago Gang Database – And No Way to Be Removed, July 15, 2020
- Rappers Jay-Z and Yo Gatti Help Prisoners in Mississippi Sue State Over “Inhumane and Unconstitutional Conditions”, July 1, 2020
- Rhode Island Corrections’ Union President Fined for Excessive Political Donations, June 1, 2020
- Report: Oaks of Justice Pitch to Help Prisoners Return Home Appears Shady, June 1, 2020
- A Mass Purge of Misconduct Records by Phoenix, Arizona Police, May 15, 2020
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