Both said they have friends who have been passed over for a promotion for women with lower test scores who have slept with their supervisors. Tim Kniest, Department of Correction's spokesman, however, said the promotions are not based on test scores alone. Within the top 15 scores, there is an interview process and we look at a person's work history and a decision is make depending on different criteria. Rep. Quincy Troupe, D-St. Louis, who heads the committee that heard the allegations, said correction officers have too much control over the inmates, which allows them to force the prisoners into sexual activities.
Guards virtually have the power to keep an inmate in jail for life.
Keaton, however, said she has never been a victim of sexual harassment. Keaton provided the names of several female workers who she said would substantiate her charges. All had been transferred to other locations and could not be located. Despite, Keaton's claim she has showed the director of corrections, Dora Schriro, letters since 1992, Kniest said the January hearing was the first time his department had heard of such allegations. Troupe said Keaton and Veltrop's testimonies were very similar to complaints heard in September by some 60 prison workers.