Man posing as transgender woman raped female prisoner at Rikers, lawsuit says

A former prisoner in the Rose M. Singer women’s jail on Rikers Island is suing New York City, alleging jail staff ignored her warnings in 2022 that a transgender woman housed among females was actually a man pretending to be a woman in order to prey on the opposite sex behind bars.

"His introduction was, 'I’m not transgender. I’m straight. I like women,’" said the plaintiff, who is identified only as "Rose Doe" in the lawsuit.

According to the civil suit, Rose Doe not only believed the alleged perpetrator was lying about their gender identity but that the prisoner was purposely "instructed to claim that he was transgender by DOC staff so that he could stay in the female dorm where he would have access to female inmates."

Investigative records obtained by Doe’s attorneys and provided to the I-Team, show shortly after the alleged perpetrator arrived in the female dorm, Doe complained to correctional staff, claiming the new detainee sexually propositioned her on April 4th and then groped her in the bathroom on April 6th. After reviewing those complaints, the Acting Warden of the Rose M. Singer Center (RMSC), Floyd Phipps, sent an email saying, "I feel that individual is not a suitable fit for RMSC. . . . [Rose Doe] does not want to remain in the unit due to feeling unsafe."

Even after those warnings and complaints, Doe says correction officers failed to remove the alleged perpetrator from female housing. According to Doe’s lawsuit, early on the morning of April 7th, "while Plaintiff was sleeping in her bed, the Perpetrator, took the opportunity to sexually assault Plaintiff again. . . .pull[ing] down her pants while she was sleeping and begin[ing] to rape her."

"I’ll be scarred for the rest of my life," Doe told the I-Team.

Nicholas Liakas, the attorney representing Rose Doe said he fears the failure of corrections staff to promptly remove an imposter also endangers actual transgender inmates who have fought for years to have access to housing which aligns with their gender identities.

"When someone is claiming to be something they’re not it’s to the detriment of the entire community now, because it will cause concern," Liakas said. "Gender aside, when you have a clear danger it has to be removed and this is something where there were so many opportunities to step in and prevent a rape."

A spokesperson for the NYC Department of Correction declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the fact that it is an active case. In a letter to Rose Doe, dated June 26, 2022, jail investigators said there was "insufficient evidence to make a final determination as to whether or not the event occurred."

The I-Team is not naming the alleged rapist because the prisoner has not been criminally charged. Though Doe says she reported the rape, her lawsuit claims DOC staff "covered up Plaintiff’s sexual assaults by failing to provide her with adequate medical and mental health services, failing to collect, document, and review evidence."

The legal action, claiming a heterosexual man posed as a transgender woman in order to gain access to female detainees, comes one year after advocates for trans prisoners implored New York City Council and the Department of Correction to make it easier for inmates to get housing that aligns with their gender identities.

In a hearing last January on gender equity in jail, Dr. Rachel Golden, a psychologist who specializes in gender-affirming care for Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Intersex people (TGNCNBI), told lawmakers it would be a mistake to think it is common for men to pose as trans females behind bars.

"Fearmongering that one bad actor will pretend to be transgender and therefore create an unsafe environment results in the continued disproportionate targeting of TGNCNBI individuals for harassment and violence," Golden testified.

She added that trans women are far more likely to be the victims of sexual violence when they are housed in male facilities.

"There is little to no incentive to pretend to be transgender let alone to put in the work to sustain that ruse over time," Golden said. "There is absolutely no evidence that people pretending to be transgender is a common occurrence whereas there is ample evidence supporting the risk of violence and assault to transgender women being housed in a male facility."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, transgender prisoners are far more likely to face sexual violence than the general population behind bars. A 2011-12 national survey of incarcerated individuals found nearly 16% of transgender inmates in local jails reported being sexually victimized. That compares with just 3% of the entire jail population.

In August of last year, the prisoner accused of raping Rose Doe was transferred to a maximum security prison for men after pleading guilty to the felony assault charges which originally landed him in Rikers.

Reached by phone, the father of the accused prisoner told the I-Team his son was "a troubled inmate" who "had a girlfriend when he went in," but he did not believe his son was capable of raping someone.

Prior to the alleged rape, Rose Doe’s attorneys say there was ample evidence that introducing the new detainee to a female dorm might be dangerous, including jail disciplinary records showing the accused perpetrator had five open complaints recorded under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a 2003 law that standardized the process for filing complaints about alleged sexual misconduct behind bars.

Liakas said the existence of those complaints should have prompted action – regardless of the inmate’s gender identity.

"Whether or not this person was truly or not transgender ignores the fact that you had a history of complaints of predatory behavior," Liakas said. "This individual had documented complaints of harassment. It culminated with a rape after being ignored."

The investigative record shared with the I-Team also includes transcripts of recorded jail phone calls in which an inmate professes to be a heterosexual who manipulated his way into the women’s dorm and is in seek of sexual rendezvous with female prisoners.

"I’m not gay...I don’t want no penis," reads one of the transcripts. "Send me some workers over here, like a whole swap of workers, heterosexuals."

The name of the jail phone caller is redacted in the transcripts, but Doe’s lawyers say it is likely the same prisoner who assaulted their client.

Rose Doe told the I-Team she agrees that transgender women can be safely housed among females. But she believes jail staff have a responsibility to act quickly when inmates raise concerns about potential imposters.

"They just took my complaint and said they’d do something about it and they never did," Doe said.

Last January, former Corrections Commissioner Louis Molina told City Council that Rikers Island housed about 50 people who self-identified as transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, or intersex. Of those, 38 were housed in their requested gender facilities. The department did not specify the reasons why the other dozen or so individuals were denied housing that aligned with their gender identities.

The DOC says, as much as possible, it seeks to accommodate an individual’s desired housing placement in accordance with their gender identity.