Women file civil rights lawsuit against Scott County sheriff, jailers

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County sheriff and two former employees of the Scott County Jail are named as defendants in a civil rights lawsuit.

Bryan Greaser of the Bryan Greaser Attorney at Law firm in Cape Girardeau confirmed Monday he is representing Patricia Campbell, Lisa Gregory and Tina Shands in a lawsuit naming Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter, Michael P. Proctor, 28, of Chaffee, Mo., and Ronald A. Baker, 42, of Sikeston, Mo., as defendants.

The suit is related to events that allegedly took place on or about Sept. 7, 2009, at the Scott County Jail, according to Greaser. It was filed in federal court as a civil rights lawsuit.

Filed Dec. 2, 2010, the suit was assigned to Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh. A hearing date has not been set yet at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, according to Greaser.

"We have alleged that their civil rights have been violated by the jail officials while they were in custody in the Scott County Jail by various forms of sexual misconduct," Greaser said.

Baker, who was charged in September 2009, is scheduled to appear Thursday before Judge T. Lynn Brown to set a trial date for sexual contact with a prisoner, a felony, and a third-degree assault charge, a misdemeanor.

Proctor was sentenced on Sept. 16 to four years in the Department of Corrections with a suspended execution of sentence and was placed on five years supervised probation after pleading guilty on April 15 to the felony charge of having sexual contact with a prisoner.

"We've alleged that the sheriff failed to adequately train his jail staff and also failed to adequately supervise the other two defendants, among other things," Greaser said regarding Walter being named in the suit.

Walter is being represented by Keith Henson of the Paule, Camazine and Blumenthal law firm in St. Louis.

"On behalf of Rick Walter, we do deny the allegations but we don't comment on pending litigation," Henson said. "This lawsuit is in litigation, so we will allow the litigation to take its course."

Proctor and Baker were arrested and charged by the Scott County Sheriff's Department following an investigation. The two were terminated shortly after the arrests.

In the Sept. 15, 2009, edition of the Standard Democrat, it was reported that Walter ordered a review of surveillance tapes when he heard rumors that something had happened at the jail.

According to a sworn statement, sexual contact with a prisoner occurred Sept. 9. Baker was allegedly seen on camera escorting an inmate into the property room and exiting about 11 minutes later.

The statement said that during an interview by investigators, the victim reportedly said she thought they were going into the property room to get her socks and told Baker they "should not be doing this" when he initiated sexual contact.

In a separate probable-cause statement by Lt. Jerry Bledsoe of the Scott County Sheriff's Department, another sexual misconduct incident occurred Sept. 8.

In that case, Baker allegedly told an inmate he would put her in protective custody due to an altercation with another prisoner and took her into the property room for the purpose of getting her things so she could be moved to another area. The victim later told deputies that Baker began to kiss her and put his hands on her over her clothing once they were inside the room. The victim said she then heard another jailer tell Baker that someone was coming, according to this statement.

While none of the women reported being physically coerced, prisoners are not considered able to give consent under Missouri law.

Walter stated for the Sept. 15, 2009, Standard Democrat news article that he believed Baker and Proctor were the only two participants and that it appeared that those two had conspired together as the activity took place when their supervisor was not on duty.

The surveillance video did not show any other jailers taking inmates in or out of the property room, he said.

Pertinent address:

Scott County Jail, Benton, MO