Yaritza Colon, a former feminine inmate, is suing the state of New York for $20 million, alleging state jail officers failed to guard her from Pedro Norde, a correction officer she says compelled her to carry out sexual favors behind bars.
“Sometimes I couldn’t even come out of my cell until I flashed him my breasts,” Colon mentioned, recalling her time within the Taconic Correctional Facility again in 2018.
One other plaintiff, who requested to not be named due to the graphic nature of her allegations, mentioned Norde raped her on three events late at night time in 2007 and 2008, whereas she was housed within the now-shuttered Bayview Correctional Facility. She’s additionally suing the state for $20 million.
“He would come to my door and just let himself in my room. And the standard thing was, ‘get up against the wall.’ And we all know what happens after ‘get up against the wall,’” she mentioned.
“Mr. Norde denies many of the accusations below and specifically denies that he ever had inappropriate physical contact with an incarcerated individual,” Blenk wrote.
Norde has by no means been charged with a intercourse crime, and he has not been topic to any administrative findings of sexual misconduct.
However the feminine plaintiffs say New York’s Division of Corrections and Neighborhood Supervision (DOCCS) knew of a “widespread, pervasive, and ongoing sexual abuse problem in each and every female prison that was part of its correctional system.” They usually say higher supervision of Norde might have led to his termination.
“We know that he had prior disciplinary actions against him, which did not lead to his release,” mentioned Adam Slater, an lawyer who represents six former feminine inmates, all in some stage of litigation, who accuse Norde of abusing them behind bars.
In accordance with a abstract supplied by DOCCS, Norde’s employment file has been dotted with disciplinary notices and suspensions. In 2002 and 2003 he was disciplined for extreme tardiness and absenteeism. In 2012 he was suspended after an arrest for allegedly violating an order of safety. In 2015 he was suspended once more after he allegedly left an inmate unattended, permitting the prisoner to flee. Most lately, in 2019, the division tried to fireplace Norde after he was accused of inappropriate contact with a parolee. However an arbitrator blocked his termination – and after two years of appeals, Norde was permitted to return to work and gather greater than $270,000 in backpay.
“They knew as early as 2019 that he was doing things such as contacting former incarcerated women,” Slater mentioned. “He should have been removed for that. So the fact that four years later he was collecting that kind of money, or any money, is really appalling.”
In 2020, one other plaintiff, referred to solely as Jane Stone #3, filed a federal lawsuit alleging “Norde raped [her] more than twenty times and infected her with herpes” whereas she was additionally housed within the Taconic ladies’s facility. That former inmate mentioned she filed a criticism towards Norde beneath the Jail Rape Elimination Act, often called PREA.
It’s not clear what grew to become of that criticism. Norde has denied that lady’s allegation in court docket filings.
Furthermore, DOCCS recommended its try to fireplace Norde in 2019, although scuttled by labor union protections, demonstrates jail managers had been making an attempt to take affirmative motion to guard feminine inmates. Norde was transferred to a male jail after he returned from that the majority current suspension.
The I-Staff reached out to NYSCOPBA, the union that represents uniformed state correction officers, however didn’t instantly hear again.
Norde’s lawyer says his consumer anticipates retiring from the state jail system earlier than the top of this yr.
Yaritza Colon mentioned she has a retirement message for the correction officer she now accuses of sexual abuse behind bars.
“If you have daughters, they should be ashamed of you,” Colon mentioned. “If you have a wife I don’t even know how she allows you to touch her, knowing what you are doing at work.”
