Valley News – 10 women file suit against state prison guard who repeatedly sexually abused inmates

Ten women alleged in lawsuits filed last week that a correctional officer sexually assaulted and harassed them while they were held at a minimum-security state prison in Concord from 2003 to 2022.

The lawsuits, filed separately in Merrimack County Superior Court, accuse former correctional officer Deborah Steele of touching her genitals during strip searches and conducting improper urine tests.

Two plaintiffs also accused Steele of sexually harassing them outside the facility.

The women claim that the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, which is also named as a defendant, ignored their numerous complaints.

The Boston Globe first reported on the lawsuits, which were filed last Friday and this Monday.

The alleged sexual assaults occurred at Shea Farm, a DOC-operated transitional housing facility in south Concord for inmates preparing for release from prison.

According to the lawsuits, Steele was a correctional officer there from 1996 to 2021.

She could not be reached for comment and a DOC spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The 10 women, all represented by Concord-based law firm Nicholson, used pseudonyms in their filings.

Most claim that Steele touched her genitals and touched her breasts with her hand during strip searches, contrary to standard practice.

They also say that Steele got uncomfortably close to their genitals during urine tests and made inappropriate comments.

Inmates are allowed to leave Shea Farm to go to work or attend appointments. Two women who were incarcerated at Shea Farm in the 2000s said they were sexually abused by Steele while in the community.

In both cases, the women claimed that Steele threatened to send them back to prison if they did not comply with her demands.

Several women said they complained to other correctional officers about Steele's behavior, to no avail.

“Plaintiff complained to other Shea Farm correctional officers on several occasions about Officer Steele's conduct and wrote complaints to the DOC regarding Officer Steele's conduct, but her complaints and complaints were ignored, destroyed, or otherwise disregarded,” a lawsuit states.

In 2022, a plaintiff filed a formal complaint against Steele, which her complaint said triggered an investigation by the agency. The plaintiff's lawyers have requested the investigation report but have not yet received it, they said.

The women accuse Steele of, among other things, physical assault and invasion of privacy.

They accuse the ministry of negligence and breach of duty.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at [email protected]..