Swain rejects prison sex inquiry

By KEVIN TAYLOR, political reporter

Corrections Minister Paul Swain has rejected a call for a commission of inquiry into "sordid" allegations of inappropriate romantic and sexual relationships between prison guards and inmates.

The Corrections Department says 21 cases have been investigated since December 1999, 17 involving female guards and four involving male guards.

A woman and man were dismissed, eight women and two men resigned, seven female cases and one male case were not proved and one case involving a woman guard is still being investigated.

New Zealand First MP Ron Mark has pursued the issue in Parliament this week and yesterday called for Mr Swain to launch an independent commission of inquiry into the allegations, which he labelled "sordid".

Mr Swain rejected the call. Later, Mr Mark released a letter to Mr Swain seeking an inquiry.

Mr Mark said such relationships not only compromised security but brought the prison service into disrepute and undermined the integrity of the department and its staff.

He also asked Mr Swain in Parliament about the truth of a claim that an investigation was under way at Paparua Prison near Christchurch into whether a male inmate had sexual relationships with a female and a male officer.

Corrections spokeswoman Catherine Hall said the department had received no such allegation and so no investigation was under way.

She said the department employed 2000 prison officers and all were told in training that such relationships with inmates were inappropriate.

"In that period we have had 21 allegations, of which almost half of them aren't proven, so I wouldn't consider that a large number."

The cases investigated involved claims of romantic or sexual conduct, and included exchanges of letters, rumours of staff members spending too much time with an inmate, complaints about inappropriate touching, and allegations of kissing.

Mr Mark has accused the department and prison officers' union of making initial inquiries informal and giving officers a chance to resign with no penalties. No records were kept and there was no way of learning lessons for the future, he said.

Catherine Hall rejected the claim, saying investigations were formal throughout.

Women officers had worked in men's prisons, and vice versa, for years and there was no view within the department that this needed changing, she said.

Many inmates had negative attitudes towards women and the department needed to provide "positive role models".

Inmate-guard relationships

* Twenty-one cases of inappropriate sexual or romantic relationships have been investigated since December 1999 in New Zealand prisons.

* Of those cases, one woman and man were dismissed, eight women and two men resigned, seven female cases and one male case were not proved and one case involving a female guard is still being investigated.