Opinion ID: 2826173
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Alleged Incidents

Text: On March 12, 2011, Thaddeus Corley, an ECF inmate, was visiting with his wife when Corrections Officer Simon Prindle ordered him out of the visiting room and sexually abused him. Prindle informed Corley that “he was going to make sure Mr. Corley did not have an erection,” and after ordering Corley to stand against the wall with his feet spread apart, Prindle 6 No. 14‐969‐cv “paused to fondle and squeeze [his] penis.” App’x 9. When Corley “jumped off the wall” in response, Prindle threatened him and told him to “get back on the wall.” Id. at 10. Four days later, Prindle abused a second ECF inmate, James Crawford.2 As Crawford was leaving the mess hall, Prindle stopped him and initiated a search. During the search, Prindle paused around Crawford’s crotch, “grabbed” and “held” his penis and asked “what’s that?” Id. Crawford responded: “That’s my penis, man.” Id. at 11. Prindle pushed his knee into Crawford’s back, pinning him to the wall, tightened his grip around the neck of Crawford’s sweatshirt, and told him to “stay on the fucking wall” if he didn’t want Prindle to “ram [his] head into the concrete.” Id. Prindle continued to “squeeze” and “fondle” the area around Crawford’s penis and “roam” his hands down Crawford’s thigh. Id. 11‐12. Throughout the search, Prindle told Crawford to “[s]tay on the fucking wall” if he didn’t want to “go to the box,” which Crawford understood to mean that Prindle would send him to solitary confinement if he resisted the abuse. App’x 11. When Crawford told Prindle that the search was not in 2 Crawford has since been released on parole. 7 No. 14‐969‐cv accordance with search and frisk procedures, Prindle responded: “You don’t have any rights in here. . . . I’ll run my hands up the crack of your ass if I want to.” Id. at 12. As a result of these incidents, Crawford and Corley allege that they have suffered psychologically and sought help from mental health professionals. The complaint also alleged that at least 20 inmate grievances complained of sexual abuse or harassment by Prindle. On certain occasions, Prindle demeaned Crawford and other inmates by telling them that he had “seen a little boy like [them] before on the internet” or that he had seen their penises. Id. at 14. And on other occasions, Prindle claimed that inmates were not properly complying with anal‐cavity search procedures and ordered the inmates to repeatedly bend over and spread their buttocks for him.