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Federal inmates attacking prison guards in nationwide trend as lawmakers propose their solution

FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced new legislation to address a shocking rate of inmate sex crime against federal corrections officers

The Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act is a response to a Justice Department Inspector General report that found 40% of Federal Bureau of Prisons staffers said they had been sexually attacked by an inmate.

"It is unacceptable that nearly half of Bureau of Prisons staff experience sexual harassment or assault by inmates. The Bureau of Prisons must do more to ensure the safety of corrections officers and to hold perpetrators accountable," said Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., who co-sponsored a new bill to fight it. "The Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act  will provide oversight to the federal prison system and fight these abuses."

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A security guard checks vehicles entering the Butner Federal Correctional Complex on Nov. 20, 2015 in Butner, North Carolina. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Lee, and Hank Johnson, D-Ga. A Senate version was sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and introduced previously.

Johnson said the incidents have climbed to "unacceptable levels," especially against female officers.

The bill gives the Justice Department's Inspector General a year to conduct a statistical review of sexual assault and harassment cases inflicted on prison guards by inmates in federal prisons, an analysis of the punishments doled out, and then another 180 days to turn over a report to the judiciary committees on each the House and Senate.

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Secret Service and prison guards stand on the roof as then-President Barack Obama tours a cell block at the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma, July 16, 2015. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

After that, the attorney general will be required to create new rules to prevent and reduce such cases and standardize punishments for inmates who attack guards.

"Last year, nearly half of surveyed Bureau of Prisons staff stated they had been sexually harassed or assaulted by an inmate," Sen. Blackburn said. "This statistic is appalling and unacceptable. No federal employee or law enforcement officer should have to fear for their safety when they show up to work, and the  Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act  would be an important step forward in ending sexual abuse of prison staff who are simply trying to do their jobs."

The proposal has support from the Fraternal Order of Police.

"The staggering number of documented sexual assault incidents highlights the dangerous environment in which our officers and other staff operate," said FOP President Patrick Yoes said.

The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado. Known as The Alcatraz of the Rockies, the supermax prison is home to some of the most notorious inmates in the US federal prison system. (iStock)

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The Bureau of Prisons has been under fire for a number of issues in recent years. A plague of inmate suicides, including that of sex trafficking financier Jeffrey Epstein, led to a separate IG investigation and the closure of the Manhattan facility where he was being held.

Federal agents swarmed another facility nearby last month, in Brooklyn, where Sean "Diddy" Combs is being held awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges of his own.

The previous director of the Bureau of Prisons, Michael D. Carvajal, resigned in 2022 amid reports of pervasive crime and corruption in the bureau.

He left months after The Associated Press reported that the Bureau of Prisons "is a hotbed of abuse, graft and corruption, and has turned a blind eye to employees accused of misconduct."

More than 100 BOP workers have been arrested, convicted, or sentenced for crimes since 2019, with one warden being charged with sexual abuse of an inmate.