WETUMPKA, Alabama – Last week U.S. officials declared the conditions at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women unconstitutional, outlining allegations of prison guards harassing and sexually abusing inmates for nearly two decades.

The U.S. Department of Justice reported the results of an April 2013 investigation to Gov. Robert Bentley and announced that it will expand its probe. The DOJ's report condemns the "toxic, sexualized environment" at Tutwiler and the failure of prison officials to address the problem, despite having knowledge that it persisted.

The violations range from verbal abuse and voyeurism to forced sexual contact between prisoners and Tutwiler staff members, according to the report.

Violations outlined in DOJ report

Inmates walk through the hall at Julia Tutwiler Prison Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, in Elmore County near Wetumpka, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

For four days in April 2013, DOJ officials conducted their investigation at Tutwiler by interviewing staff and inmates and analyzing documents, from staff policies to disciplinary reports.

Investigators received letters from 233 current inmates detailing the "dehumanizing" behavior of some staff members. Ultimately, the prisoners' reports corroborated each other – often recounting similar details or naming repeat perpetrators – and swayed investigators.

Those written reports were supported by paternity tests, polygraph examinations, staff admissions and ADOC investigations, according to the DOJ's findings.

The report notes that Alabama prison officials have been aware of sexual misconduct since at least 1995, when a findings letter addressing unconstitutional medical and mental health care treatment also noted inappropriate sexual contact between inmates and staff.

"Eighteen years since notifying ADOC and Tutwiler officials of inappropriate sexual activity between staff and prisoners, problems in the area of sexual abuse and harassment have only worsened," the report states.

More than one-third of the staff – 36 of the 99 total employees – are identified as having had sex with inmates. If other forms of sexual abuse and harassment are included in the total, that number nearly doubles, meaning well over half of the Tutwiler staff has been involved in some sort of misconduct, the report states.

Four Tutwiler officers were implicated far more than their peers, one with 38 incidents, another with 27 and two others with 19 each. The report notes that no system is in place to track employees with excessive complaints against them, preventing Tutwiler from identifying the most serious offenders.

Sergeants and officers, not identified by name, are accused of being sexual predators, watching women shower, exchanging sexually explicit letters with inmates and, in at least one case, even fathering a child with an inmate, according to the report.

Women are repeatedly forced to use sex as currency to "barter" for necessities such as uniforms and hygiene products, but also illicit items like drugs and alcohol, the report states.

Inmates also suffer verbal abuse. They identified 34 "verbally abusive and threatening" officers who shout expletives and call them explicit names.

Prisoners who have reported sexual misconduct are subjected to threats and punishment such as segregation or disciplinary write-ups. When investigations are initiated, they are minimal and officers found guilty of misconduct receive mild, if any, punishment.

"Investigators often fail to use basic investigative tools and techniques, such as witness interviews or record reviews, and instead close investigations prematurely based on limited information," the report states.

"Staff and prisoners continue to engage in overt and inappropriate sexual behavior at Tutwiler, most recently within days of our arrival. This behavior is indicative of the need for critical institutional reforms that will not only address the underlining causes of the harm but also identify and implement sustainable reforms. To this end, ADOC must take on an active role in monitoring the changes made at Tutwiler. It is no longer enough to delegate the changes to the Tutwiler officials without expansive oversight," the report states.

The DOJ has told ADOC officials to "take a more proactive approach" to combating sexual abuse, comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act and ensure that prisoner complaints of sexual misconduct are investigated properly. They also say DOC should aim to recruit more female officers to work at the prison.

Beyond the sexual misconduct violations, the DOC found evidence of other constitutional violations, including discriminatory treatment and inadequate medical and mental health care.

A history of abuse and indifference

Inmates work in a dormitory at Julia Tutwiler Prison Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, in Elmore County near Wetumpka, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

Julia Tutwiler Prison, located in Wetumpka, houses nearly 1,000 inmates, including the state's female death row. For years the facility has been plagued by reports of inadequate conditions: insufficient health care and living conditions in the early 2000s, transitioning to allegations of sexual misconduct that persist today.

Overcrowding has remained a major concern throughout the prison's existence. The facility was built to house about 400 inmates, but its population has skyrocketed.

In 1995, the current prison commissioner announced the state's intention to convert Tutwiler into a processing center for male inmates to relieve overcrowding, but those plans never came to fruition.

Throughout the 2000s proposals for Tutwiler's closure were widely discussed but the prison has escaped that fate time and again.

In 2002 a judge declared that overcrowding at Tutwiler violated the Constitution and restricted its capacity. That same year an Atlanta-based law firm filed a federal lawsuit seeking to bring about "constitutional" conditions for Tutwiler inmates. Despite reaching a settlement two years later, the firm in 2007 shifted its focus to shutting down the prison altogether.

Also in 2007, the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics issued a report ranking Tutwiler first among women's prisons and 11th among 146 prisons across the country for frequency of sexual assaults on inmates.

A year later, yet another report – this one conducted by the Commission of Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System – proposed closing the nearly 70-year-old facility and replacing it with smaller facilities throughout Alabama. The document, which was submitted to the state legislator, noted that most women were imprisoned for nonviolent crime and would be better served in community-based facilities than overcrowded Tutwiler.

The most recent report follows on the heels of one issued in 2012 by the National Institute of Corrections, part of the DOJ, which also sent a team to Tutwiler and found abuses of inmates by staff and problems with the manner in which inmate complaints were handled.

The Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery-based nonprofit, has been a driving force in calling local and national attention to allegations about the plight of Tutwiler inmates.

An EJI report issued in 2012 says that between 2004 and 2011 DOC received dozens of reports of female inmates being raped and impregnated by male guards or coerced into sexual favors in exchange for contraband goods. The EJI filed a complaint with the DOJ calling for a thorough federal investigation at Tutwiler.

In May, Tutwiler ranked seventh on a list of the 10 worst prisons in the nation, compiled by Mother Jones magazine using three years of research, correspondence with prisoners and interviews with criminal justice reform advocates.

Just four months ago, DOC officials ended the long-standing policy of segregating HIV-positive inmates, who were moved back into the general inmate population.

The changes were the result of a lawsuit filed by HIV-positive inmates in 2011, which asserted that the policy violated the rights of the HIV-positive inmates under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

'Unconstitutional' designation unfair, Alabama prison officials say

Kim Thomas, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections

Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas said Friday that he does not think conditions at the prison are unconstitutional, adding that efforts have been underway for months to address problems first reported by the Equal Justice Initiative in 2012.

Thomas declined to respond to specific allegations in the DOJ report, which he said he received Friday morning.

"We will look very carefully at the contents of this report and look forward to working with the Department of Justice to understand the valid complaints that they raise and hopefully finding resolution without the necessity of imposing some court action," Thomas said.

Thomas had asked for the review by the National Institute of Corrections after the EJI's complaints. He announced a list of more than 50 changes to address the problems they found.

"I don't think they give us enough credit for everything we've started and are trying to keep moving," Thomas said of the Jan. 17 DOJ report.

In September, Thomas gave a tour of the prison to highlight some of the recent changes. He told reporters that conditions had improved markedly, from altering the process of handling inmates' complaints to expanding the infirmary.

Equal Justice Initiative's role in reforms

Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative

The EJI interviewed more than 50 women incarcerated at Tutwiler in the process of compiling its 2012 report. The nonprofit organization asked DOJ to investigate when it released its findings.

Throughout the past several years, the EJI has accused DOC of underreporting the incidence of sexual assaults at Tutwiler, while punishing or humiliating the women who choose to come forward to report abuse despite possible repercussions.

The EJI has uncovered numerous inconsistencies between prison guards indicted and convicted of various abuses and DOC reports of sexual misconduct, or lack thereof.

Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the EJI, has said that the findings in the Jan. 17 report are troubling and a cause for quick action by the state.

"I think it's a serious indictment of the conditions of confinement that exist at the Tutwiler Prison for Women and it calls into serious question whether there's a need for fundamental reform within the Department of Corrections specifically related to sexual abuse and misconduct at Tutwiler," Stevenson said.