Victoria Bekiempis and Jan Ransom

Believing that she had no choice, the woman complied, a prosecutor said in court Monday. A correction officer told her to pull down her pants and spread her legs, while other officers stood nearby and watched.

She was then instructed to lower her underwear and remove a sanitary napkin. The officers found no contraband, the prosecutor said.

This search was one of five illegal searches described in a 27-count indictment unveiled Monday against five guards and a former supervisor who worked at the Manhattan Detention Complex on Centre Street, a jail known colloquially as the Tombs.

The corrections officers were arrested and arraigned in state Supreme Court on charges including official misconduct, conspiracy, unlawful imprisonment and filing false documents. They all pleaded not guilty and were released without bail.

Staff at the city’s jails must get written permission to search people they think may be smuggling contraband into the prison. If a visitor consents, a correction officer may only pat their outer clothing and examine the seams and pockets, the indictment said.

Staff may also ask people to remove outerwear like a coat, hat and shoes.

The correction officers “blocked exits, surrounded visitors on all sides, forcibly removed visitors’ clothing, including underwear, touched visitors’ breasts, examined visitors’ vaginal and buttocks areas, forced visitors to squat without pants or underwear, and forced visitors onto the floor,” the document said.

They also are accused of forcing visitors to sign consent forms under false pretenses, and lying on official reports to cover up their actions, the district attorney’s office said. “These officers flagrantly abused their power,” the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., said in a statement.

The officers accused of illegal searches in the indictment were Alifa Waiters, 45, Daphne Farmer, 49, Jennifer George, 32, Lisette Rodriguez, 51, and Latoya Shuford, 36. Leslie-Ann Absalom, 53, a retired correction captain, was also charged.

Lawyers for two of the accused officers declined to comment, while lawyers for the other four did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Peter Thorne, a spokesman for the city Department of Correction, said in an email the five guards have been suspended.

“People visiting loved ones in our city’s jails should feel safe, period,” Thorne said. “If these allegations are proven true, the officers involved face termination.”

Elias Husamudeen, the president of the correction officers’ union, said in a statement that the officers at the Manhattan jail had arrested more than 50 visitors last year for attempting to smuggle in heroin, marijuana, cocaine, razors and other contraband.

“Every day they do everything they can to keep this jail safe for visitors, inmates and correction staff,” he said. “They deserve more public support for the diligent professionalism they exude every day.”

The arrests coincided with the release of a new report from the city Department of Investigation, which found that staff in city jails “continues to subject visitors, mostly women, to invasive searches that violate DOC’s own policies and are inconsistent with the dignity and rights of visitors.”

The indictment also comes on the heels of dozens of lawsuits alleging illegal strip searches have occurred at city jails. A review of these lawsuits uncovered a pattern: Visitors claimed they signed waivers for routine “pat frisk” searches, but instead were given full searches, sometimes even cavity checks, in bathrooms or search rooms.

Alan H. Figman, a lawyer representing at least 50 women who have accused correction officers of conducting improper searches at jails, said the city “has done absolutely nothing to reign in a systemic violation of visitors’ well-being and rights.” He applauded the indictment.

“It’s good they’re finally doing something about this,” Figman said.

Figman, who also represents many women who were searched during visits to Rikers Island, criticized the Bronx district attorney’s office for declining to prosecute correction officers there. “It’s gotten to the point of ridiculousness,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Bronx district attorney did not respond Monday to requests for comment.

Under city policy, visitors may be required to take off coats, hats and shoes during a frisk search, but no other garments. If contraband is discovered, the officers involved in the search, as well as the supervising captain, are required to fill out a report, according to the indictment.

If visitors do not want to be searched, they can leave voluntarily; correction officers can also offer them a visit in which they have no physical contact with the prisoner or deny them a visit outright.

Prosecutors said several of the officers charged tried to hide evidence of the illegal searches by filing false paperwork with the Correction Department and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The people subjected to illegal searches were restrained with “physical force, intimidation, and deceit, even after visitors asked to leave or visitors affirmatively stated that they did not consent to be searched,” prosecutors said in court papers.

The guards did find contraband during the searches, including marijuana, Xanax and tobacco, and arrested three women as a result. But prosecutors said these arrests were tainted because the searches were improper.

The district attorney’s office dismissed charges against one of the women after reviewing security camera footage of the search, according to the investigation department report. Charges were eventually dismissed against a second woman, and the last one pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, prosecutors said.

Scott Simpson, one of the lawyers who filed a class-action lawsuit in 2015 on behalf of several women who said they were improperly searched at Rikers Island, said the searches had caused his clients lasting emotional pain.

“Hopefully these indictments lead to a safer, more respectful visiting process where visitors do not have to endure a traumatic experience simply to see their loved one,” he said.

This article originally appeared in <a id="95e7a9d2-9984-351b-a020-0e3cf2d09e50" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/nyregion/illegal-strip-searches-jail.html">The New York Times</a>.

Jail Guards Performed Illegal Strip Searches on Women, Prosecutors Say

NEW YORK — A woman who arrived at the jail next to Manhattan criminal court to visit a detainee last August was given a curt instruction: sign a consent form and undergo a search.

Jail guards performed illegal strip searches on women, prosecutors say

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Victoria Bekiempis and Jan Ransom

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Jail guards performed illegal strip searches on women, prosecutors say