Female prisoner assaults officer then obtains her medical records and address in order to taunt her

Jennifer Kaschau’s life changed when a female prisoner found a way to to obtain her personal medical records and address. She suffered ongoing torment.

A former South Australian prison officer has revealed the ongoing torment she suffered at the hands of a female inmate who was able to attain her personal medical files and address through a Freedom of Information request.

The prisoner, who was doing time for arson, then used the highly sensitive information to taunt and intimidate correctional officer Jennifer Kaschau over a period of months, causing Kaschau to fear for her safety in her own home and develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kaschau had been working as a prison officer for several years when she was asked to perform a strip search on a prisoner at Adelaide Women’s Prison in 2011.

“She was quite dangerous this one. She was a chronic self-harmer, and she was in hospital on a self-harm and we had been given info that she had contraband like a pair of gloves, a lighter, some tobacco, maybe some needles, that sort of thing,” said Kaschau, 49, who performed the duty alongside another officer.

Former prison officer Jennifer Kaschau spent a year getting blood tests to ensure she hadn’t contracted Hep C or HIV after she was bitten on the hand by a dangerous female inmate. Picture: Nicole Cleary

“Well, we found nothing on her, and as she was getting dressed, I thought, you know what – I’m going to search the bedding. And as I searched the prisoner bedding, she lunged, and as I put my hand underneath the pillow I found a glove with the items inside the glove, doubled up because she probably clearly had them secreted within herself, and we got into a bit of a wrestle.

“She’s on one side of the bed, I’m on the other side of the bed, and she grabbed a hold of it as well and went to stuff it wherever it was she had it before.”

Sensing violence could escalate, Kaschau’s colleague went to call for a supervisor, during which time the prisoner attacked.

“I’m telling her to let go and basically surrender me the item and she put her head down and bit me on the hand, bit through my glove. So I had to have blood protocols for 12 months,” she said.

Kaschau’s anxiety was heightened by the knowledge prisoners have comparatively higher rates of blood borne viruses, such as hepatitis C, than the general population.

Listen to her story on our groundbreaking podcast On Guard – the first podcast series to get exclusive access to the stories of frontline prison staff — where this journalist spoke with close to 20 serving and retired corrective service workers.

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The most recent government report into inmate health, The Health of Australia’s Prisoners 2018, cited one in five prison entrants – or 22 per cent— tested positive for hepatitis C.

While the report found no entrants tested positive for HIV, this is not an accurate reflection of the numbers of prisoners with HIV, as testing and disclosure of the virus is not mandatory.

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in Western Australia that would make it mandatory for prisoners accused of assaulting an officer to undergo HIV testing. However, the contentious bill was not passed, with critics claiming it was discriminatory.

For a year, Kaschau worried she may have contracted a potentially deadly disease and although she was eventually cleared the ongoing stress gravely affected her mental health.

“The medical staff wouldn’t divulge her history because of patient confidentiality, even though I’d been bitten. So I had her charged and then that went through court.

“And in the meantime, I just had a bit of a breakdown. I thought I was coping OK with it and I went to go to work one day -- this was about two days later -- and sat in the car park in a blubbering heap. I rung my supervisor, and I said, ‘I can’t come in, I can’t get out of the car’,” said Kaschau, a mother-of-one.

Jennifer Kaschau from Lara, Victoria battled with PTSD. Picture: Nicole Cleary

The prisoner then made a Freedom of Information request to the government and was able to obtain Kaschau’s personal medical records.

“And one of my reports was my home address, not blacked out.

“She started taunting me because she had my medical info, so she would taunt me - with personal details.

“The freedom of information system fell down, that’s what I believe. I believe that whatever should have been redacted on that information, wasn’t. However, there was nowhere I could go with that except, on the advice of another officer I got my name removed from the electoral roll so I couldn’t be traced.”

The stress of the incident saw Kaschau develop a nervous tick in her eye, which took five months to resolve. She also became hypervigilant and uncomfortable in public.

“I’ve found myself a bit nervous and maybe tending to lean toward the more reclusive side, whereas before I never even thought about it. I’d just go out and do stuff and be with friends and not consider it. But now I look for the doorways and I’m scanning the room constantly and I’m reading people and people’s body language and that sort of thing.”

Jennifer Kaschau from Lara, Victoria, is one of the eight officers interviewed in groundbreaking new podcast series, On Guard. Picture: Nicole Cleary

The Report on Government Services 2020, cites that in the decade to 2019, the rate of prisoner assaults on staff increased in every state and territory, apart from South Australia where figures have remained relatively stable and the ACT where comparative figures were not available.

Tasmania has seen the greatest increase, with assaults on staff tripling in the past 10 years.

In the past financial year, there were 312 assaults on staff in NSW, 56 assaults on staff in SA, 158 assaults in WA and 12 in Tasmania.

Corrections Victoria declined to provide a figure of assaults suffered by staff. However, revealed there had been an increase on the previous year, despite there being a reduced number of prisoners in custody due to COVID-10.

The state saw an increase from 1.19 assaults per 100 prisoners in 2018-2019 to 1.45 assaults per 100 prisoners in the most recent financial year. This can be estimated as 115 assaults on staff in the period.

Originally published as Female prisoner assaults officer then obtains her medical records and address in order to taunt her