PORT ANGELES — Two inmates apparently conspired so they could have sex in the Clallam County jail, it was learned Tuesday.
Undersheriff Rich Sill said that incident and another security lapse — an inmate scrawling “Innocent” on the back of his jumpsuit before a court appearance — has prompted a series of changes for handling inmates in the chronically overcrowded jail.
“No jail is immune from these situations,” Sill said in an interview.
“It’s constant and ongoing.
“We’re fortunate that we have not experienced instances of violence, but joke-playing and attempting to get away with things like that is a constant battle.”
Sill said he did not know the names of the inmates involved in the early June incident, but said it did not amount to rape.
“It was not; it was a consensual thing, as they claimed,” Sill said.
“They thought they could get away with something.”
The incident was brought to officials’ attention sometime after the incident.
Sill said there was no proof that they actually had sex.
“They could be bragging about it, but that’s what they are saying,” Sill said.
Distracted officer
While an officer was conducting a head count at the jail, female inmates conspired to distract the officer so a male trustee could slip into their cell and hide, Sill said.
He said there were several female inmates in the cell, and the trustee had sex with one of the women who he had know previously.
The door was locked while the man and the women were inside — and was not opened until the next head count, when the inmates distracted the officer again so the male trustee could slip away undetected.
Sill would not say how long the man and the women were together, but called it a “short period of time.”
The jail now requires two officers to conduct head counts in a cell, with one keeping an eye on the door, Sill said.
He said it makes head counting slower, but ensures there will not be a repeat of the sex incident.
Trustees are low-risk inmates who earn the privilege of working in and outside the jail, either in laundry services, in the kitchen or on the department’s chain gang, which picks up litter.
Those accused of violent crimes are not eligible to become trustees.
Sill said the male inmate involved in the incident with the female inmate was disciplined and is no longer a trustee.
Other incident
Sill said sex between inmates was one incident that caused jail officials to reevaluate procedures.
At his June sentencing, convicted murder Robert Covarrubias wrote “Innocent” on the back of his jail jumpsuit.
Covarrubias, 25, was sentenced to 34½-years in prison — the maximum allowed by law — for the slaying of 15-year-old Melissa Carter.
Sill later apologized to Carter’s family for deputies not detecting the hand-lettered statement before Covarrubias entered the courtroom.
