Female Inmates Report Sexual Abuse At Jasper Jail

JASPER, AL — Three former inmates at the Jasper Police Department's jail are alleging sexual abuse in civil lawsuits they filed this month. The women are now seeking unspecified monetary damages from the department .

An ABC 33/40 report said the court filings describe a pattern of verbal and sexual harassment including unnecessary tazings and rape at the hands of former Jasper Police Department jailer Russell Boyd.

Boyd was arrested in April 2018 after a state investigation into sexual abuse allegations at the jail.

One of the plaintiffs told ABC 33/40 that she was verbally harassed right away and tazed in the buttocks by Boyd after he ordered her to take out the trash.

She said said the abuse continued with her being raped by Boyd in an area ojut of view of any of the jail's 60 cameras.

Chief J.C. Poe has denied any knowledge of the alleged sexual abuse inside his jail. However, Jasper attorney Michele Pate - one of a team of lawyers representing the alleged victims - said if Poe didn't know, it was his responsibility to know.

"There is a certain attitude that I have found from some people in Walker County that I think is what allows this type of behavior to continue unchecked because people don't seem to want to get involved," she said.