Missouri begins paying millions to women sexually abused by Chillicothe prison guard
The state of Missouri has started to pay out $20 million awarded to four women who alleged they were sexually abused by a guard at Chillicothe Correctional Center in western Missouri.
A federal jury awarded $5 million last year to each of the women, who testified they were sexually assaulted by Corrections Officer Edward Bearden at the women’s prison about 90 miles northeast of Kansas City.
The state has so far paid out $10.6 million of the significant settlement, according to a monthly report put out by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. The state is expected to pay the rest of it in the coming months.
During the civil trial at the federal courthouse in Kansas City, one of the women’s lawyers, Susan McGraugh, said Bearden considered the prison his “personal hunting ground.” She said he groomed and complimented the prisoners, giving them items they were not allowed to have like soda; sexually harassed them; isolated them in small spaces without cameras; and raped them.
Lawyers with the attorney general’s office, which represented Bearden as a state employee, tried to paint the women as liars.
Bearden, who worked for the Missouri Department of Corrections from 2008 to September 2018, denied the accusations. No criminal charges have been filed against him.
An appeals court in March rejected Bearden’s attempt to get a new civil trial, calling his conduct reprehensible.
