SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 ❚ 3B
Prison
Continued from Page 1A
and, using his position of power as a
corrections officer, got the second in-
mate to perform oral sex.
“That was wrong,” the first female in-
mate told the Statesman Journal. “It
never should have happened.”
Both women are serving time for
their roles in separate, unrelated mur-
ders. She said they later disclosed the
sexual contact with Alberts to officials
and agreed to cooperate in the investi-
gation.
Alberts’ attorney did not respond to
multiple requests for comment. Efforts
to contact Alberts via social media were
unsuccessful.
Prison officials clampdown
For months last summer, prison offi-
cials refused to provide any information
to the Statesman Journal regarding the
allegations and investigations against
Alberts.
A Hillsboro attorney representing
multiple female Coffee Creek inmates
reported in June — around the same
time Alberts was placed on leave — that
prison officials were blocking inmates
from contacting attorneys unless they
had existing cases.
After sending the Department of Cor-
rections a letter threatening to involve
the attorney general and governor, law-
yer Michelle Burrows was able to con-
tact her clients.
She described the prison as a “cess-
pool” where victims are punished and
abusers are enabled.
During this same time, the inmate
who spoke with the Statesman Journal
said her contact with the outside world
became nonexistent after Alberts was
placed on leave. She couldn’t make calls
to family or talk to other inmates.
“Some staff told me that something
this big has never happened in the 18
years that Coffee Creek has been open,”
the inmate said.
But she said investigators interview-
ing her seemed unsure whether Alberts
would face charges connected to the
sexual misconduct, despite having ex-
plicit photos he sent her, records of their
correspondence and video footage.
She said it is ironic that she and her
fellow inmate are being punished for
something they couldn’t legally consent
to while Alberts evades prosecution for
the sexual contact.
“They are trying to cover this up,” she
said. “We don’t want this swept under
the rug.”
Retaliation alleged, 170 days
isolation
In 2019, about 10 current and former
inmates filed a lawsuit against the pris-
on, claiming officials turned a blind eye
to systemic abuse and misconduct.
Burrows, the attorney representing
inmates who accused a prison nurse of
sexual abuse, said Coffee Creek prison
officials have an obstructive attitude.
“Each new investigation brings much
publicity, some investigations and
sometimes prosecution,” Burrows wrote
in a lawsuit involving the prison nurse.
“Each new investigation brings pub-
lic promises and assurances by ODOC
that the problems are only isolated to
single bad actors and that the prison
system cannot control or manage this
situation adequately,” she wrote.
The lawsuits recount more than a
dozen allegations of rape, sexual assault
and sexual misconduct by staff.
After a series of scandals involving
corrections officers and kitchen staff at
Coffee Creek, Oregon in 2005 became
one of the last states to enact a custodial
sexual abuse law. Because of the posi-
tion of power prison employees hold
over inmates, the law states an inmate
cannot consent to sexual contact be-
hind bars.
Another lawsuit filed in 2019 alleges a
prison kitchen manager of groping and
having sexual contact with multiple in-
mates.
Multiple criminal charges have been
filed over the years, accusing various
corrections officers and prison staff of
sexually abusing inmates, coercing
them to have sex in exchange for drugs
and smuggling drugs inside the prison.
The latest indictment alleges that Al-
berts and a co-defendant, Joseph Lucio
Jimenez, 27, of Gresham, and others
used cell phones to traffic drugs inside
the prison.
Alberts was placed on a leave of ab-
sence on June 6, the same day inmates
told the Statesman Journal there was a
lockdown and some of them were
placed in segregation.
At the same time, the woman said
she was placed in isolation with no win-
dows or clocks for 170 days, and denied
meals and showers for days at a time.
She said officials withheld her mail
for 18 weeks and threatened to move her
to an out-of-state prison away from her
family and children if she did not coop-
erate with investigators.
The isolation and threats, she said,
left her in deep depression.
“I tried to kill myself,” she said. “They
continued to threaten me. ... They didn’t
care.”
She still worries about being sent
out-of-state in retaliation for talking to
the Statesman Journal and coming for-
ward about the misconduct at Coffee
Creek.
Her fears seemed to come to fruition
on Jan. 16 when she and the other in-
mate involved with Alberts were
abruptly transferred to separate jail fa-
cilities in Marion and Grant counties.
Prison officials declined to comment on
the reason for the transfers and whether
the women were being sent out-of-
state.
The first inmate said she had be-
lieved she was in a relationship with Al-
berts. Looking back, she said she sees
how he abused his power over her.
She claimed he made racist remarks
about the other inmate involved in the
closet encounter. She said he wrote her
a few letters while she was in isolation
and would talk to her family members,
saying, “Tell her I love her and miss her.”
But he seemed to stop caring after a
while.
“He just wanted to make sure I’d stay
quiet, which I did for so long because I
was punished for it every day,” she said.
“He knew what he was doing was
wrong.”
Prosecutors, prison officials mum
Report of drugs, sex, smuggled
phones
Alberts began working at the wom-
en’s prison in 2017 — the same year she
entered DOC custody.
She recounted the following:
The inmate and Alberts joked and
flirted. Sometimes he would sneak her
extra candy. Over time, they began
sharing more about their lives. He said
he was married with a young daughter,
but insisted his marriage was crum-
bling.
He passed her notes and asked her to
flash her breasts when he walked by her
cell.
In October 2018, he brought her a cell
phone to use on his days off. They’d talk
and chat every day. Alberts would
charge the phone during his next shift.
He’d regularly pull her into a closet.
“Pretty much every night, we’d kiss
goodbye,” she said.
He would boss her around and tell
her not to spend too much time with
other females, expressing concern that
she would develop sexual relationships
with them, too.
Soon, he let her keep the phone all the
time. She posted on Snapchat and mes-
saged her friends. Screenshots of mes-
sages and photos corroborate this time-
line.
In early 2019, she said Alberts took
her into the staff bathroom. While an-
other corrections officer kept watch, she
gave him oral sex.
She said the corrections officer who
stood guard still works at the prison but
was recently transferred to the men’s
side.
Eventually, she claimed a plan un-
folded to have Alberts bring meth and
heroin into the prison.
“He wanted a certain amount for it
and said we could keep the rest,” she
said. “That went on for six months.”
After she had a “dirty” urinalysis for
drugs, she said Alberts told her worked
to get rid of the test. It was during the
same time, she said, that he met with
her in a closet to have sex. Her friend
stood guard, but he eventually asked
her to join them.
A rule that an inmate can’t be left
alone with a single staff member is tout-
CLASSIFIEDS
Find a new job or career
Discover
Discover
Disc
Di
scov
sc
over
ov
er your
y your
ourr new
ou
new
ne
w ho
home
home
me
JOBS.STATESMANJOURNAL.COM
Brokers licensed in Oregon
Place an ad online 24/7 at StatesmanJournal.com
or call 503-399-6789 • 1-800-556-3975
Auctions, pets, services & stuff
AUTO
STUFF
StatesmanJournal.com/classifieds
in print Wednesday through Sunday
STATESMANJOURNAL.COM/HOMES
TRUST THE HOMETOWN EXPERTS
SERVING THE
EAST VALLEY SINCE 1975
Kirsten Barnes
Broker
503. 873.3545 ext. 326
The drug trafficking case was investi-
gated by the FBI, Oregon State Police,
and Oregon Department of Corrections
Office of Inspector General, and is being
prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the District of Oregon.
After a months-long investigation,
federal prosecutors have not indicated
whether Alberts will face charges for
custodial sexual misconduct. A spokes-
man for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said
they could neither confirm nor deny the
existence of additional investigations
into Alberts.
Officials with the FBI declined to
comment due to Alberts being under in-
dictment. They referred questions to
the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After the indictment in December,
Alberts was released pending a jury
trial, which is scheduled for Feb. 25 be-
fore U.S. District Court Judge Michael
Simon. He was ordered to have no con-
tact with any inmates.
Alberts remains employed with the
DOC on unpaid leave.
When contacted by the Statesman
Journal, prison officials declined to
comment on the allegations, citing the
active investigation and pending litiga-
tion.
“The Oregon Department of Correc-
tions maintains a stringent code of eth-
ics which requires all employees to be
honest, to be truthful, and to obey the
law,” spokeswoman Betty Bernt said.
Spokeswoman Jennifer Black said in
2019, there were 24 allegations of sexual
abuse and 22 allegations of sexual ha-
rassment at Coffee Creek.
She referred all questions on the spe-
cific allegations — that a PREA investi-
gation was launched and closed, the
claims of retaliation and that other cor-
rections officers were involved — to the
FBI.
Requests to have state Corrections
Director Colette Peters comment direct-
ly on the allegations were not granted.
For questions, comments and news
tips, email reporter Whitney Wood-
worth at wmwoodwort@statesman-
journal.com, call 503-399-6884 or fol-
low on Twitter @wmwoodworth
silvertonappeal.com
Turn here for your next vehicle
HOMES &
RENTALS
JOBS
ed by prison officials as part of their pol-
icy for preventing sexual abuse, but
wasn’t always enforced, she said. Cam-
eras weren’t in the closet and bathroom.
The woman said a Prison Rape Elim-
ination Act (PREA) investigation was
launched in spring 2019. She and the
other inmate denied any sexual contact,
and she said the investigation was
closed due to a lack of evidence.
“They just asked me if it was happen-
ing and of course I said no,” she said.
She said she later found out investi-
gators had video evidence of her, the
other inmate and Alberts going into the
closet.
AT
Marcia
arcia Branstetter
Branstette Mason Branstette
Branstetter
SILVERTON REALTY
Micha Christman
Becky Craig
Sarah Graves
Broker, GRI
Principal Broker, GRI
Offi ce Manager
Broker, GRI
Offi ce Manager
503. 873.3545 ext. 318 503. 873.3545 ext. 303 503. 873.3545 ext. 301 503. 873.3545 ext. 313 503. 873.3545 ext. 300
Michael Schmid
Schmidt
Mike Ulven
Whitney Ulven
Ryan Wertz
Meredith Wertz
Chuck White
Christina
ristina Williamso
Williamson
Principal Broker, GRI
503. 873.3545 ext. 314
Broker
503.873.3545 ext. 312
Broker
503.873.3545 ext. 320
Broker, GRI
503. 873.3545 ext. 322
Broker, GRI
503. 873.3545 ext. 324
Broker
503. 873.3545 ext. 325
Broker
503. 873.3545 ext. 315
NEW-SILVERTON
SILVERTON
NEW-SILVERTON
NEW-SALEM
SILVERTON
MT. ANGEL
#A2581
KAUFMAN BUILT HOME
4 BR, 2 BA 2717 SQFT CALL
MEREDITH AT EXT. 324,
RYAN AT EXT. 322 $538,600
(WVMLS#758828)
#A2558
READY FOR CONSTRUCTION
1.7 ACRES. WELL IS
ESTABLISHED. CALL
MICHAEL AT EXT. 314
$165,000 (WVMLS#753167)
#A2580
MINI-FARM IN VALLEY
3 BR, 2 BA 1692 SQFT 4.31
ACRES CALL MICHAEL
AT EXT. 314 $494,500
(WVMLS#758765)
#A2578
BEAUTIFULLY RENOVATED
4 BR, 2 BA 1262 SQFT
CALL CHRISTINA AT EXT. 315
$289,500
(WVMLS#757967)
#A2551
COMMERCIAL BUILDING
1952 SQFT CALL MEREDITH
AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322
$279,000 (WVMLS#751145)
#A2579
GREAT LOCATION
3 BR, 2.5 BA 2323 SQFT CALL
MEREDITH AT EXT. 324,
RYAN AT EXT. 322
$318,900 (WVMLS#758689)
Brokers licensed in Oregon
WWW.SILVERTONREALTY.COM | 303 OAK STREET | SILVERTON
Call us today! 503.873.3545 | 1-800-863-3545
FOR RENT
Call Micah or Sarah
at 503-873-1425
or see them on our website.