ACLU claims abuse in Mississippi County jail caused inmate to miscarry

CHARLESTON, Mo. — A former inmate of the Mississippi County Detention Center filed suit Monday, claiming she was egregiously abused while pregnant, and the death of her baby resulted from her mistreatment in December 2014.

Named as defendants in the suit are the county and seven detention-center employees, including former jail administrator Cory Hutcheson.

Hutcheson and three others lost their jobs earlier this month after leaving the jail unattended, Mississippi County Sheriff Keith Moore said.

No inmates escaped during the incident.

Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri, is representing Tara Rhodes in the abuse suit.

He said Rhodes pleaded for five days to get medical attention after she began leaking abdominal fluids, cramping and passing blood clots, but no one would listen.

She also was shackled by the waist, wrists and ankles and dragged from one room to another.

“This is something that needed medical attention, and the results were tragic,” Rothert said.

St. Louis attorney Ivan L. Schraeder, who handles legal matters for Mississippi County, could not be reached for comment.

In court documents, Rhodes alleges she was passing blood and other bodily fluids for several days before she was taken to a hospital hundreds of miles from the jail. At that point, nothing could be done to save her child.

Although she had begun experiencing symptoms in September 2014 when she first was booked into the jail on a drug offense, bigger problems began Dec. 18, when she alerted several jail staffers to her situation and they repeatedly ignored her, the suit states.

One staffer allegedly told her to use a tampon to soak up the fluids.

By Dec. 22, Rhodes had started passing blood clots in addition to her other symptoms.

One of the jail employees allegedly told Rhodes she thought the inmate somehow was faking the clots and needed to stop it.

That day, one of the defendants completed a medical transfer form for Rhodes to be taken to a facility within the Missouri Department of Corrections, but the form did not specify Rhodes was suffering from a high-risk pregnancy, only that she was pregnant and needed follow-up care.

“On the evening of Dec. 22, 2014, Plaintiff was taken to a holding cell, where she remained overnight,” the lawsuit states. “After Plaintiff informed MCDC staff — including Defendant Hutcheson — that she could not walk because of her condition, Defendant Hutcheson instructed (two staffers) to drag Plaintiff on her sleeping mat from the pod she was housed in to the holding cell.”

While she was in the cell, Rhodes’ symptoms continued, and court documents claim she pounded on the door, begging for help and bleeding. One of the defendants allegedly told Rhodes to take off her pants and underwear and spread her legs so she could see whether the baby was crowning.

“Plaintiff was told by MCDC staff that, if she did not stop pounding on the door, she would be physically restrained to a chair,” the suit alleges.

Early the next morning, Rhodes was taken 243 miles to the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic Correctional Center in Vandalia, Missouri. The trip took about five hours.

On the way, Rhodes continued to beg for help, but none was forthcoming, according to the court documents.

“On the way to WERDCC, (two defendants) stopped the transport vehicle at a gas station near St. Louis, Missouri,” the documents state. “At this time, Plaintiff’s pants were soaking wet from her vaginal area down to her ankles ... .”

The suit continues: “When Plaintiff arrived at WERDCC, her clothes were soaking wet from her vaginal discharge that had become green in color.”

Rhodes was sent from there to Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, Missouri, where she was admitted for preterm labor. The suit alleges her cervix was 2 centimeters dilated, and one of the baby’s feet and the umbilical cord were hanging out.

She was 19 weeks along and had planned to put the baby up for adoption, as she did with four previous children.

Rothert said although seven jail employees are named in the suit, the county also is a defendant because it runs the jail.

“There’s no shortage of complaints about lack of medical care in prisons ... and this is one of those cases,” Rothert said.

The ACLU also filed suit recently on behalf of a female inmate in Jackson County, Missouri, who also was shackled, chained and transported hundreds of miles while pregnant.

“Leaving a pregnant woman in excruciating pain for days is the definition of cruel and unusual punishment,” Rothert said in an earlier statement about the case. “This kind of abuse, which reaches far beyond the boundaries of human decency, is exactly what the Constitution was designed to protect against.”

The lawsuit lodges six counts against the defendants, including denial of medical care, excessive force, municipal liability, violation of the Missouri Constitution, intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery.

In addition to Mississippi County and Hutcheson, the following people are named in the suit: Carol Manning, Faith Altamirano, Sally Faye Gammons, Terri Lynn Bowman, a Mr. Henry and a Mr. Lee, whose first names are not known.

ljones@semissourian.com

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