Guam – Sen. Telena Nelson wants a Department of Justice review of the agency and wrote to acting US Attorney Shawn Anderson to make that request the same day that Lamorena wrote to Speaker Cruz seeking Nelson’s removal.
DOC Director Lamorena, however, says their facility has been assessed in recent weeks but it’s not clear what prompted that assessment.
“We’re not saying we’re perfect, and so that’s why we brought these consultants in, so they can look at our policies, they can look at our procedures and look at our facility because really, the facility makes a big difference on how to best address a situation,” stated the director.
The findings of the report have not been received as the assessment concluded on March 1, 2018, after one week of looking into the practices and procedures surrounding safety and compliance with PREA standards.
“We welcome it, amazingly enough a couple of weeks ago, we had some consultants from the PREA, which is the Prison Rape Elimination Act and so we had two consultants here on island to work with us,” shared Lamorena.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act is intended to deter the sexual assault of prisoners. As you may recall in the murder of detainee Manson Ernest, one of the defendants is charged with criminal sexual conduct after he allegedly digitally penetrated him.
According to the Lamorena, the assessment was at the request of DOC and was made a reality after eight months of coordination with Hawaii Bureau of Prisons and Department of Justice.
