A transgender inmate, Demi Minor, 27, was transferred to a prison for males after having consensual sex with two female inmates and getting them pregnant. The incident happened at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey.
Dan Sperrazza, Department of Correction spokesman, said Minor was transferred to Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, a prison for young adult offenders in Burlington County.
Sperrazza said that Minor, who is serving a 30-year sentence for manslaughter and eligible for parole in 2037, is currently the only woman incarcerated at the facility and placed in a vulnerable unit. He added that he couldn't comment further on Minor's housing situation due to the New Jersey Department of Corrections's (NJDOCS's) privacy policy, per Fox News.
Facility's most vulnerable section
The sexual intercourse was consensual, but it is still unknown if both had sex with the transgender inmate or with other inmates. Edna Mahan houses 27 transgender prisoners and more than 800 women.
The facility started to house transgender women, including those who haven't undergone gender reassignment surgery due to the lawsuit brought forward by a trans woman and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
The two female inmates involved in the incident were Dimitrius Minor and Latonia Bellamy.
On the other hand, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced plans to close Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton due to a long string of sex assault scandals, per Daily Mail.
Demi was sent to jail when she was 16 years old after being found guilty of murder for killing her foster father, Theotis Butts, 69, in July 2011, along with a carjacking case in the same year. She was sentenced to 30 years in jail. She started her transition to a woman in jail in 2020 and was transferred from a male prison to Edna Mahan.
On July 5, Demi posted on the website claiming that the correction officers forcibly ousted her from the women's facility and beat her during the transfer.
The Department of Correction (DOC) stated that they have zero tolerance for any abuse and the safety and security of the population and staff are of critical importance, per NJ.
Gender identity policy to be revoked
Sperrazza stated that the DOC is now operating under the policy agreed upon with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), thus, adding that the department is already reviewing the policy for housing transgender incarcerated persons aiming to implement minor modifications.
According to an NBC News investigation published in 2020, most transgender inmates in the United States are housed in facilities according to their gender assigned at birth and are frequently subjected to violence and harassment.
Last year, two prisoners in Edna Mahan filed a lawsuit seeking for the gender identity police to be revoked after the alleged harassment by transgender prisoners.
The critics of the settlement with the ACLU assert that the measure is another burden for a state prison that has seen disturbing reports of abuse and rape by guards throughout the last decade.
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