A female inmate at the Women’s Correctional Center in Washington has come forward to reveal that she was sexually assaulted by a violent transgender sex offender who was transferred into the women’s prison in 2021.
For the purposes of this article, the female inmate will be referred to as “Mary” in order to protect her privacy and prevent her from experiencing institutional repercussions.
Reduxx was provided Mary’s testimony through letters she passed on to an internal source, who then relayed the information out of the institution on her behalf.
Mary explains that the incident occurred in April of 2022 after a transgender inmate named Christopher Williams asked to be moved into her cell. Williams had previously been serving his sentence at a male facility, and has a criminal history including sex offenses and violent assault.
“Christopher asked if he could move into my room because he said his current roommate was bullying him … I had no issues with him being a transgender. But then he would make weird comments like ‘it hurts when it fills up with blood,’ like he wanted me to know when he was having an erection.”
Mary says that she became increasingly uncomfortable with Williams’ behavior towards her, which had a near-constant sexual undertone. At one point, Williams appeared to become frustrated with Mary’s lack of interest in him, and started issuing disturbing threats of sexual violence.
“He said to me, ‘I don’t know why you don’t want [my dick]. Everyone else does.’ Then he started to follow me into the bathroom. And one time he told me, ‘Just so you know, I can get you wherever I want.’”
Mary says she was voicing her concerns to staff, but was “pretty much being ignored.”
The situation took a turn for the worse after Mary was prescribed sleeping medication to help with her restless nights. She says she noticed that Williams began to sit next to her bed at night after she took her medication. One night, she was woken up to the sound of an officer pounding on their cell door, demanding to know why Williams was sitting next to her bed. Mary speculates that the officer likely saw Williams touching her during her rounds.
“I’m not sure how many times he touched me because of my [meds]. But one day I came back to my cell from a work shift and he had two strap-on dildos and asked me to use them on him. I refused. That night, I was woken up to him touching me.”
Mary says she went to correctional staff immediately and told them what had happened. A search was conducted of the cell, and the sex toys were found. Mary then filed a Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) report, which was determined to be substantiated. Williams was taken into segregation, and eventually moved out of Mary’s cell.
“In October or November [2022], we were both in the medical clinic waiting room and he was glaring at me. Then he blocked the only exit and was just staring at me, like he was trying to intimidate me.” Mary goes on to note that the facility appeared to want to keep the incident under wraps.
“They acted weird about it… like they wanted to keep it secret, but the [PREA] was founded.”
Williams, who has not changed his legal name or sex, was reportedly transferred into WCCW around the same time the facility saw a wave of transgender males being moved into the female estate in 2021.
Prior to being transferred to WCCW, Williams was incarcerated at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Washington, where he was serving a sentence for assaulting another inmate.
As previously reported by Reduxx, Williams was charged in 2012 after brutally attacking a man named Christopher Barrett while serving a sentence for failing to register as a child sex offender.
The attending officer wrote that he had been called by Williams’ cellmates after they heard the confrontation. Barrett was found covered in blood and with a “gash in his head,” and Williams immediately admitted to the assault, stating: “I did it. It’s me, it’s me.”
Williams admitted to having struck Barrett multiple times with his fists and elbows without any apparent provocation, stopping when Barrett let out a “death scream.”
The victim’s injuries included damage to his ear, which reportedly had to be cut open in order to relieve the severe swelling occurring under the skin.
Barrett also had broken bones under his eye, a gash on his cheek requiring “extensive stitching to close,” a missing tooth, and a nose that had been so damaged that he required emergency reconstructive surgery.
Speaking to Reduxx, a source within WCCW has said that the Department of Corrections (DOC) is largely in denial about the issues surrounding trans-identified male inmates being housed with women.
“They present it as a historic and successful arrangement. They did a trial run on some new bras they want to make available to order and they picked as many trans inmates as women. They have hired a ton of expensive staff to help the trans population and created a special orientation packet for them,” he says.
“They hint that there have been ‘some challenges’ but mostly present this as a success. Staff and inmates are in agreement that it’s a horrible thing.”
The source has previously informed Reduxx that there are currently almost one dozen male inmates at the facility. Of the 11 names provided for review, 9 were convicted of crimes against women or children. The source states that this reveals the extent of the problem.
“These incidents further show the women at WCCW that they don’t matter, and that their safety isn’t as important as making the trans inmates happy,” he says. “DOC is clearly running scared of groups like Disability Rights Washington that are always threatening a lawsuit. Meanwhile the trans inmates are playing DOC for fools.”
He continues: “The women and staff at WCCW do whatever they can to quietly fight back but constantly fear retaliation. Current housing policy and practice allows the individuals to pick their cell mates so the trans ones usually befriend more vulnerable women and pick them as cellmates and exploit them and end up in relationships full of domestic violence and control.”
One such instance of “exploitation” was committed by Princess Zoe Andromeda Love, a biological male with a criminal history that included the rape of a 12-year-old girl.
Love was transferred into WCCW in 2021 where he reportedly sexually assaulted a developmentally disabled female inmate just prior to his release. According to a former correctional officer at WCCW, many of the files associated with the incident were “erased” from the system.
Reduxx reached out to the Washington Department of Corrections for more information on the precautions being taken to protect women from trans-identified male inmates. In a statement from the Media Relations Manager, the DOC stated it “strongly emphasizes the importance of inclusion and representation by recognizing the unique challenges that non-binary and transgender incarcerated people face. DOC takes allegations of crimes seriously and any person incarcerated at DOC suspected of committing a crime, is subject to the same laws and investigations regardless of where they are housed or their gender.”
The statement continued that “a common myth perpetuated about people who are transgender is that they will commit crimes of assault against vulnerable populations. This is not the case.”