Prison sex abuse suits continue as criminal probe widens

Sept. 22--As the criminal probe into alleged sexual assaults at the Lackawanna County Prison expands, the county continues to vigorously contest the federal civil lawsuit that led to the investigation.

The lawsuit, which was filed in July 2016 and amended several months later, makes explosive allegations against dozens of defendants, including current and former commissioners, wardens, other prison administrators and guards.

Four women, all former inmates, alleged they were repeatedly sexually abused and harassed by nine guards at varying times between 1998 and 2016. The women said they tried to report the abuse to other guards and prisons officials. The Times-Tribune does not name victims of sexual assault.

Rather than help, the guards harassed and berated them and helped the abusive guards conceal the assaults, the suit alleges.

It also makes serious allegations against Warden Tim Betti,

who is accused of tearing up written complaints of abuse an inmate gave him when he was a deputy warden, and Commissioner Patrick O'Malley,

who formerly worked as a guard at the prison and is accused of tipping off a female guard that she was under investigation for failing to report abuse. An attorney appointed by the prison board investigated the claims against Betti and determined they were unfounded.

The allegations in the suit led to a criminal probe that was taken over by the state attorney general's office in January. On Thursday, dozens of Pennsylvania state troopers and attorney general agents raided the prison, the county work release center and the county's human resources and internet technology offices seeking evidence in support of the criminal investigation.

County officials said they welcome the investigation and vowed to fully cooperate with authorities. At the same time, they are battling to get the civil case dismissed.

In a motion filed in December, James Doherty Jr.,

one of the attorneys representing O'Malley and other county defendants, lambasted the lawsuit, saying the allegations against O'Malley are "scandalous, impertinent and irrelevant" and "patently false." He sought to have the claims against O'Malley stricken from the lawsuit, saying they unjustly portray him in a false and derogatory light. Commissioners Laureen Cummings and Jerry Notarianni are not named as defendants.

Attorney Sean McDonough, who represents Betti and other prison employees, also denied the women's claims. He joined Doherty and attorney Tom Munley, who represents a former prison guard named in the suit, in seeking to have the case dismissed on several other legal grounds, including that it was filed outside the two-year statute of limitations.

The women's attorney, Matthew Comerford, acknowledged some of the claims fall outside the statute. He contends the case should be allowed to proceed, however, because his clients, who have been in and out of prison, feared retaliation if they filed a lawsuit and later returned to the prison. That's a legitimate concern that should exempt them from the statute of limitations, he contends.

Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo is evaluating the motions and will issue a ruling at a later date.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

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