×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
$73,700 Jury Award for Guard’s Sexual Encounters with Massachusetts Prisoner
A Massachusetts federal jury has awarded $73,700 in damages to a woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted while imprisoned at the South Middlesex Correctional Center (SMCC).
After being convicted of drug offenses in 2003, Christina Chao, 31, was sent to SMCC.
Shortly thereafter she began having sex with prison guard …
After being convicted of drug offenses in 2003, Christina Chao, 31, was sent to SMCC.
Shortly thereafter she began having sex with prison guard …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Remembering Attica Forty Years Later, by Dennis Cunningham
- Extra Earned Time Sentence Reductions Save Oregon $25 Million
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- 800,000 Ex-Offenders Regain Voting Rights – 5.3 Million More to Go
- Female Prisoners Removed from CCA Facility in Kentucky
- PLN Files Censorship Suit Against Michigan Jail over “Postcard Only” Policy
- Reform Comes to Maine Supermax: New commissioner cuts population by more than half; prisoner rights advocates help in the reform, by Lance Tapley
- $73,700 Jury Award for Guard’s Sexual Encounters with Massachusetts Prisoner, by David Reutter
- New Mexico Spends $20 Million in Federal Stimulus Money to Fund Prison Jobs
- Sixth Circuit Upholds Tennessee’s Financial Obligation Re-Enfranchisement Law, by Mark Wilson
- Ninth Circuit Finds Maricopa County Jail’s Cross-Gender Strip Searches Unreasonable
- $60 Million in Strip Search Settlements for Cook County Jail Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- California: OAL Disapproves Proposed Parole Board Regulation Formalizing Lifer Risk Assessments, by Michael Brodheim
- Feds Pay Wrongfully Convicted D.C. Men $1.9 Million
- Florida Reenacts Reconstruction-Era Felon Disenfranchisement Rule, by David Reutter
- EEOC Files Suit Against GEO Group for Sexual Harassment at Arizona Prisons
- Georgia Deputy Fired for Refusing Threesome with Sheriff
- Feds Intervene in Suit, Allege “Sadistic” Stun Gun Use at Ohio Jail; Jail Settles, by Brandon Sample
- Federal Court Dismisses Virginia Lifers’ Parole Suit
- New Laws Improve Job Prospects for Former Prisoners
- Florida Prisoner’s Suicide Suit Settles for $500,000
- $85,000 Settlement in Philadelphia Wrongful Imprisonment Suit
- Former Federal Prisoner Seeks Almost $280,000 in Attorney Fees from BOP
- Prisoners Used to Clean Foreclosed Houses in Georgia
- Third Circuit Upholds Unanimity Requirement for Pennsylvania Pardon Recommendations
- Texas Chaplain Who Complained of Jail Conditions Reinstated, Suit Settled
- Protective Order Denied in Privately Run Florida Juvenile Facility Class-Action Suit, by David Reutter
- $4.5 Million Settlement in Texas County Jail Strip Search Suit
- Florida’s House Speaker Wants to Quicken Executions, by David Reutter
- Third Circuit Upholds Pennsylvania Sex Offender Treatment Parole Requirement, by Mark Wilson
- Michigan Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Case Settles for $100,000
- Florida Courts Criticize Indefinite Detention While Awaiting Civil Commitment Trials
- North Carolina Prisoner’s First-Degree Murder Conviction is Valid Basis to Deny Awarding Good Time Credits, by David Reutter
- Parole Violator Leaps to Death at Alaskan Jail
- North Carolina Jail Prisoner Housed with TB Infected Cellmate Receives $2,250 Settlement
- New Mexico State Auditor Investigates Prison Contracts
- Washington State Closes McNeil Island Prison, by David Reutter
- Canadian Prison Guards Hold Prisoners at Gunpoint for 10 Days
- Smoke ’Em if You Got ’Em, Says Oklahoma DOC
- California: Orange County Jail System Ordered to Remedy ADA Violations, by Michael Brodheim
- Oregon Settles Prisoner’s Heart Failure Medical Mistreatment Case for $390,000, by Mark Wilson
- Arizona County to Pay Ex-Prisoner $325,000 in Jail Guard Beating
- An American Radical: Political Prisoner in My Own Country, by Susan Rosenberg (Kensington Publishing Corp. 2011), 400 pages, $14.95 paperback
- UNICOR Wins $20 Million No-Bid Body Armor Contract
- Federal Stimulus Money Not Spent as Intended by San Diego County Probation Department
- Paperwork SNAFU Leaves Mentally Ill Woman Jailed in Louisiana for Eight Months
- California State Auditor Reports on CDCR Malfeasance
- Official Capacity Not the Same as Governmental Agency in Texas Civil Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- News In Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026
- Nevada Prisoners, Families Call Out Predatory Tablet Program, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026. Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- $100,000 Paid to Five Prisoners Assaulted by Centurion Gynecologist at Florida Lockup, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Contractor Liability, Monell Liability, Deliberate Indifference.
- New Connecticut Law Changes PREA Standards, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Administrative Exhaustion, Prison Rape Elimination Act, State Legislation.
- $3 Million Settlement Reached with BOP for Attorney’s Fees in Sex Abuse Class-Action from Now-Shuttered California “Rape Club”, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Attorney Fee Awards, Settlements, Consent Decrees, Class Actions.
- GAO Report Finds Rampant Sexual Abuse in Federal Prisons, Most Cases Unresolved, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Corrections Audits, Prison Rape Elimination Act.
- Report Shows Pattern of Sexual Assaults in Santa Clara County Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Failure to Protect (General).
- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- New Jersey Lawmakers Pass “Female Incarcerated Person’s Rights Protection Act”, July 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Staff Training, Mothers in Prison.
- Federal Jury Awards $2,500 to Male Wisconsin Prisoner Sexually Assaulted by Female Guard, June 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Evidence, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

