You always hear about prisoners who commit the most heinous crimes (specifically pedophilia) getting treated horrendously in prison. My question is, how do the other prisoners find out? I can’t imagine someone admitting to this, and they don’t always make the news. Do the other guards tip the prisoners off? Is this information somehow easy-to-access public record?
Perhaps from the news? I’m sure they’re allowed to read newspapers and watch television.
Plus, dunno about the States but here in the UK, they have a special section of the prison for the real heinous crimes. I think it’s called section 4b or something. The other prisoners pretty much know that anyone in there is a kiddy fiddler / granny raper or whatever.
I’ve heard the same thing, including one nasty character saying something along the lines of, “Yeah, I’m a thief, but I’m also a father.” I just haven’t seen any cites to indicate it’s true. Any of you folks have proof that “short eyes” have a tougher time in prison because of their crime and not just because they’re jerks?
I can’t prove it to you past relating to you my personal experience (as a lawyer, mind you, not a prisoner) but yes, it’s true. There’s a heirarchy in prison based on the percieved importance of one’s crime. For example, a serial bank robber will get more respect than a purse snatcher. At the very bottom of the totem pole are those who commit sex offenses with children. Being a jerk to boot is only icing on the cake.
What crimes you have comitted are as much common knowledge as your name, and as likely to get exposed if you lie about it. On intake, an assessment is made of your social and criminal history, your medical and psychological profile, etc. etc., and used to determine your facility, housing, and job assignments, as well as how big a security risk you are, both in the sense that you pose a danger to others and that others pose a danger to you. Sex offenders in general require a greater degree of suprvision than others. In that kind of environment it’s nearly impossible to keep what you did a secret.
A good friend of mine spent a year and a half or so in a maximum security prison in California. His stories still give me the chills when I think about them. There are a few ways this could happen.
The guards tip the prisoners off. They don’t like child molestors any more than the prisoners and some tend to look the other way.
Six degrees of separation. Someone knew the molestor in real life and found out from someone on the outside.
The way they are treated. They see the guy being transferred to protective custody in a way that would indicate they are there for that reason.
You’re treated like a hero in prison if you take out a serial killer or a child molestor. He told me one story where someone snitched to the guards and was discovered and then asked to be put into protective custody. Actually, he was part of a conspiracy. Everyone knew that he wasn’t really a snitch but pretended he was so the guy could get into the protective area. Once there he put a huge hurting on a child molestor or a real snitch.
Haj
An old friend who was a prison guard for a few years told me about this. He said rapists had the highest likelihood of being raped in prison. His university criminology courses confirmed it.