Corrective Services NSW: Shocking files reveal claims of sexual assault, weapons being stolen for DV attacks, abuse of inmates
Sex assaults, dismemberment videos and a mentally unstable inmate being forced to bark for his meals: These are the horror allegations levelled at NSW prison officers in secret documents accidentally leaked.
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A mentally unstable inmate was allegedly forced by corrective officers to “get on all fours and bark like a dog” before he was served lunch.
A senior manager of a Sydney prison was accused of stealing “weapons” from a centre, hiding them inside his home, before allegedly inflicting more than two years of domestic violence and attempting to abduct a child.
Officers at another centre were accused of sharing footage of naked inmates during strip searches and filming fights between prisoners and staff.
Bathurst Correctional Staff were accused of having sex with female staff and then giving them a rating in a “scoring book”.
While another officer was accused of imitating a Ku Klux Klan member by putting a paper towel in front of his face with eye holes and laughing with a junior colleague.
These are just some of the damning allegations levelled against Corrective Services NSW, as 700 claims of horrendous cases of sexual assault, corruption, pedophilia, the misuse of weapons and rampant drug smuggling have been revealed.
Sensitive NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption referral documents are understood to have been mistakenly uploaded publicly to the Special Commission of Inquiry into rampant offending by imprisoned former correctional officer Wayne Astill, who in 2023, was convicted of 34 charges, including aggravated sexual assault and indecent assault, while working as a guard at Dillwynia Correctional Centre in western Sydney.
Peter McClellan led the special commission of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the offences committed by former NSW correctional officer Wayne Astill.
The release of the documents, which identified sources who raised allegations to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption and NSW Police, has struck fear in the hearts of officers, with several telling the Saturday Telegraph they are “fearing for our lives after being publicly outed of untested allegations released publicly by the Astill Inquiry”.
Meanwhile, complainants who raised the allegations have aid they are convinced their “faith in the system has been destroyed” after their identities were revealed publicly.
The Saturday Telegraph understands that, throughout the Astill Inquiry, legal representatives of Corrective Services NSW fought for high-level redactions and suppressions of ICAC referral information released publicly.
Some of the most stunning claims include racist behaviour from the state’s most experienced prison officers.
Inmates at John Morony Correctional Centre were allegedly allowed access to staff computers to view video footage depicting violent and gruesome images, including the dismemberment of a person.
No findings have been made.
In an horrific alleged incident in April 2021, an officer at Surry Hills Court Cells allegedly forced a mentally ill inmate to get on all fours and bark like a dog before he would be served lunch. The same officer allegedly used excessive force causing facial injuries to the inmate.
The shocking allegation was revealed in April 2021, after the Professional Standards Bureau received an anonymous letter alleging that an unidentified correctional officer subjected the mentally ill inmate to the dehumanising act, before allegedly using excessive force on the inmate, causing facial injuries.
Another case reveals a senior corrections officer putting a paper towel in front of his face with eye holes and laughing with a junior colleague, who believed he was imitating a Ku Klux Klan member.
That officer also faced complaints about his allege racism, threats of violence and sexual remarks from multiple inmates at the St Heliers Correctional Centre in the Hunter.
He was suspended with pay and the matter is still being investigated with no findings made.
In another referral to investigators an inmate at the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre alleged he was called “a sex pest” and threatened with assault if he did not help the officer find drugs in the yard.
The same prisoner claimed that in May 2020 another guard organised a fight between a Special Operations Group officer and an inmate inside a cell.
CCTV footage, according to the sensitive files, showed the guard and the inmate keeping watch of a door while the fight took place inside a cell.
Documents claim he was suspended with pay over the allegations, no findings have been made.
The accidental leak has also unearthed how several female guards are being investigated for sexual relationships with inmates.
One female Community Corrections Officer based in Dubbo failed to report her relationship with a prisoner, eventually owning up to exchanging “I love you” with him and planning a future together.
Corrections were investigating if criminal action against her was warranted, according to the files, but no charges have been laid.
The files also contain allegations that bikie gangs have infiltrated and influenced staff at the highest levels within corrections.
An employee at South Coast Correctional Centre is under investigation for his alleged association with members of the Comanchero after it emerged he was friends on Facebook with several. No findings have been made and no charges laid.
According to the documents, A casual officer at Cooma is similarly under investigation over her alleged links to the Rebels after the top brass at corrections were alerted to her family supporting one of the bikies in a court case.
No findings have been made and no charges laid.
The manager of a prison program is also being probed after he was reported by a colleague who claims he overheard him on the phone warning the Finks about a police investigation.
No findings have been made and no charges laid.
Other alarming allegations include officers charged by police with sexually assaulting colleagues, including one who is fighting a count of rape police say took place in an Uber.
At Tamworth Correctional Centre one senior figure was alleged to have been suspended after a bungle with department issued firearms.
The guard was accused of adding a non-approved “scope” to a Corrections rifle, sending the gun safe password over email and asking another employee to punish a female inmate who accused him of “hitting on her”.
He was then alleged to have tipped off investigators that the same staff member was using steroids as “payback”. No findings have been made and no charges laid.
On January 31 2023, a correctional officer at Mid North Coast Correctional Centre allegedly snuck mobile phones, cocaine and alcohol into the prison through the kitchen, which they then consumed with an inmate.
In another shocking claim made to the Professional Standards and Investigation unit on January 17, it’s alleged that Mid North Coast Correctional officers used their personal mobile phones and WhatsApp to share images and footage of naked inmates during strip searches.
The 455-page document was riddled with claims of officers smuggling contraband into prisons. These include allegations officer at the Metropolitan Special Purpose Centre smuggled in illegal items including a mobile phone and charger, tobacco, Ice, Buprenorphine, and USB sticks containing movies and pornographic material for a particular inmate.
The document included multiple allegations of officers destroying evidence, including claims a First Class Correctional Officer at Shortland Correctional Centre threatened an inmate during a cell search, before asking another FCCO to destroy his body camera footage of the incident.
The sensitive documents revealed a number of horrendous crimes committed by officers, including one where an office was convicted of six counts of ‘Sexual intercourse with person between 14 & 16 years of age.
The officer was sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 2 years and 6 months.
Two female offenders at Mt Druitt Community Corrections were allegedly offered to reduce their community service work hours if they completed chores at a Casual Field Officers Home.
Bathurst Correctional Centre is accused of charging inmates $2.80 per phone call, instead of allowing them to use the official 0.25c per call system. It is alleged that inmates are unable to call their families sufficiently, due to this call cost.
In another alleged case of horrific sexual abuse, its alleged that an offender at Dillwynia Correctional Centre sexually assaulted by an unnamed staff while she was housed at Dillwynia Correctional Centre prior to her release from custody on 05 October 2022.
In August, the Telegraph uncovered shock figures on the number of staff inside the Department of Communities and Justice experiencing sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace, following sweeping tours of facilities across the state as part of a major sexual assault and harassment review.
An estimated 1343 public servants had reported experiencing threats or actual physical harm, 671 employees had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, while a further 2686 reported experiencing bullying on the job.
“Corrective Services NSW is aware of the publication of a document containing sensitive information and a number of serious and disturbing allegations of staff misconduct,” a department spokeswoman said on Satruday morning.
“We understand the release of the information relating to a private and confidential process is distressing for staff involved, including complainants, and we have mobilised a team of specialist staff to provide immediate counselling and peer support.”
“The alleged conduct revealed in the documents is completely unacceptable and we encourage any staff member who is aware of misconduct in the workplace to report it to Professional Standards and Investigations or NSW Police, so instances of wrongdoing can be identified and act upon.”
THE CLAIMS
INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR
Staff at Bathurst Correctional Centre accused of keeping a “scoring book” where they would rate female colleagues after sleeping with them.
At Goulburn in 2020 three female staffers made complaints about an officer, alleging he touched their breasts and requested sexual intercourse from them. He is facing misconduct findings but no criminal proceedings.
An emergency response team officer was removed from their duties after telling an inmate to “retract their foreskin” during a strip search.
PHOTOS
It’s alleged that a senior officer at Silverwater Correctional Centre used a Corrections NSW phone to photograph the penis of an inmate who allegedly had a Rabbitohs tattoo on his genitals. It is also alleged the same employee was ‘intrusive’ during pat searches, touched inmates on their genitals through their clothes, played love songs during searches and made inappropriate comments including whispering in inmates’ ears. He was not charged but is subject to a fact finding enquiry.
In another shocking claim made to the Professional Standards and Investigation unit on January 17, it’s alleged that Mid North Coast Correctional officers used their personal mobile phones and WhatsApp to share images and footage of naked inmates during strip searches.
No further action was taken against a female officer who took a picture of herself wearing a strap-on dildo and sent it to a colleague.
Officers at Security Operations Group were alleged to have filmed CCTV of an inmate stabbing and then uploading the graphic footage on social media.
Inmates at John Morony Correctional Centre were allegedly allowed to access to staff computers to view video footage depicting violent and gruesome images, including the dismemberment of a person.
One officer was handed a $1000 fine and a reprimand after allowing inmates at John Morony Correctional Centre to watch “gruesome” videos of people being dismembered.
ABUSE OF POWER
Two female offenders at Mt Druitt Community Corrections were allegedly offered to reduce their community service work hours if they completed chores at an officer’s.
Bathurst Correctional Centre is accused of charging inmates $2.80 per phone call, instead of allowing them to use the official 25c per call system. It is alleged that inmates are unable to call their families sufficiently, due to this call cost.
A senior correctional centre sent a text message to a colleague saying, “with all the talk about being single .. I feel like being single for a night .. and you are THE ... and you are in a room close to mine .. in Mudgee ... and what happens on a road trip stays on a road trip ... you want to forget about everything for a few hours?” On 10 June 2020, the same officer said to his colleague “I love brown chicks” and “I have always wanted to be with a black chick.”
On 22 March 2021, another high level staff member made inappropriate sexual comments towards a female colleague, including asking what she was wearing underneath her shirt, asking “are you loud when you are having sex?” and “when you leave your boyfriend give me a call, I would like to be with a girl like you”. They were issued a letter of warning after an investigation.
Another officer advised a female colleague he had engaged in masturbation the night before and said “If women want equality and they want to hit men then men should be able to hit them. Some women just deserve a good whack.”
ASSAULT
In another shocking incident, a ‘highly intoxicated’ officer at Metropolitan Special Purpose Centre physically assaulted another by slapping him slapping him in the head, ripping his turban from his head and then again slapping him while in the staff quarters. On 22 October 2022, he was arrested and charged with Common Assault, suspended from his job while the court case plays out.
The sensitive documents revealed a number of horrendous crimes committed by officers, including one where an office was convicted of six counts of ‘Sexual intercourse with person between 14 & 16 years of age. The officer was sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 2 years and 6 months (with non-parole period of 15 months).
In another alleged case of horrific sexual abuse, its alleged that a prisoner at Dillwynia Correctional Centre sexually assaulted by an unnamed staff member while she was housed at Dillwynia Correctional Centre prior to her release from custody.
A senior correctional officer allegedly engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviour in the presence of others, specifically smacking a colleague on the buttocks with a metal detector.
An inmate was allegedly drugged and raped by officers at Silverwater and Dillwynia
Correctional Centres.
CONTRABAND
An employee allegedly implicated in the introduction of contraband into a correctional centre.
An officer at the Metropolitan Special Purpose Centre smuggled in illegal items including a mobile phone and charger, tobacco, Ice, Buprenorphine, and USB sticks containing movies and pornographic material for a particular inmate.
On January 31 2023, a correctional officer at Mid North Coast Correctional Centre allegedly snuck mobile phones, cocaine and alcohol into the prison through the kitchen, which they then consumed with an inmate.
GUNS
The sensitive documents unveiled strings of horrific abuses of powers involving guns.
In one, an officer is accused of sending a member of the public two photos of herself posing in CSNSW uniform holding a departmental firearm during hospital guard duty.
One guard in Tamworth Correctional Centre was suspended from duty after allegedly adding an unapproved “scope” to a department rifle.
The same guard also allegedly would send the password for the gun safe over email.
DESTROYING EVIDENCE
The document included multiple allegations of officer destroying evidence, including claims an officer at Shortland Correctional Centre threatened an inmate during a cell search, before asking another FCCO to destroy his body camera footage of the incident.
DO YOU KNOW MORE? Email Jake.McCallum@news.com.au
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