Former Jackson County inmate says guard didn’t stop rape, supplied attacker with drugs

A former Jackson County jail inmate says in a new lawsuit that a guard did nothing to stop a fellow male inmate from raping him last September.

Instead, the lawsuit says, the female guard gave the attacker a bag of what looked to be cocaine during a break in the attack and walked away.

According to the suit, the incident allegedly occurred just two weeks after two women reported being sexually assaulted in the jail by male inmates who were able to roam freely within the facility in the middle of the night.

Those earlier assaults prompted multiple investigations and two audits of the Jackson County Detention Center at a cost to county taxpayers of more than $600,000. In addition, the county paid $275,000 to settle a claim brought by one of the female victims.

The suit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court by Ryan Dumas names as defendants the county, Department of Corrections Director Joe Piccinini and the guard, identified only as Jane Doe.

Dumas was being held on a probation violation in the downtown Kansas City jail’s medical pod when he was raped by an inmate who he later learned was HIV-positive, the suit said.

The attack reportedly occurred when Dumas got up in the middle of the night to use the communal bathroom. The attacker came up behind him while Dumas was at the urinal, whispered in his ear to be quiet, then smashed his head into the wall, the suit says.

Dumas lost two teeth and his face was bloodied as the attacker proceeded to rape him, the suit says.

According to court records, the attack was interrupted temporarily when a female corrections officer came to the pod door and slipped a bag of white powder to the attacker. The suit says the attacker sold drugs within the facility and that the female guard supplied him with illegal substances from outside.

After she left, the suit said, the rape continued until another guard showed up and put Dumas into protective custody.

Dumas reported the rape to the Jackson County sheriff’s department after being treated for his injuries at a hospital. Afterward, several inmates and three corrections officers allegedly tried to get Dumas to recant his story, the suit said.

No criminal charges have been filed against the alleged rapist, but Dumas’ St. Louis-based attorney, Jeremy Hollingshead, said the case is still being investigated.

A spokeswoman for Jackson County did not immediately respond to a request for a reaction to the lawsuit’s allegations. But the county as a matter of policy does not comment on pending litigation.

This story was originally published May 15, 2017 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Former Jackson County inmate says guard didn’t stop rape, supplied attacker with drugs."