Woman alleging repeated rapes awarded $6.7M

JAIL SAFETY /

A jury awarded $6.7 million to a former female inmate at the Milwaukee County jail who said she was raped at least five times by a correctional officer there.

The woman, who was pregnant at the time, also said she was shackled to her bed while giving birth in violation of her constitutional rights.

While the jury said the restraints had “no legitimate non-punitive” purpose, as Fox 6 in Milwaukee reported, it concluded that she had suffered no particular harm from being shackled and awarded no damages for that.

The damages will be paid by Milwaukee County because corrections officer Xavier Thicklen was an employee when the sexual assaults occurred, reported the Associated Press. The county will likely appeal the jury’s verdict.

The verdict comes amidst a tumultuous time for the Milwaukee County jail, which is overseen by controversial Sheriff David Clarke, Jr., an outspoken supporter of President Trump who has said he will be leaving his post for a job with the Department of Homeland Security.

Clarke became popular with conservatives by portraying himself as a tough, no-nonsense sheriff, a kind of midwestern version of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona. Republicans made him a featured speaker at their convention in Cleveland in July.

His reputation has been damaged, however, by accusations of abuse at the jail he runs.

Just last month, an inquest jury determined that there was probable cause to bring criminal charges against seven Milwaukee County Jail officials in the death of an inmate, Terrill Thomas, who was held for seven consecutive days without water or a mattress, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Thomas, 38, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The county’s district attorney will now determine whether to actually bring charges in the case.

The young woman in the civil case decided Wednesday said the assaults occurred while she was an inmate in the jail in 2013. She was 19 at the time, pregnant and powerless when she said during the trial that Thicklen assaulted her.

“He used his keys, his power, his authority to get in these places and rape me,” she said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.