The search is over. Three California inmates who managed to escape a Santa Ana jail are back in custody. The prison teacher arrested last Thursday for allegedly aiding in their escape, however, is being released due to insufficient evidence, for now at least.
Since the daring January 22 escape, word has circulated that the English-as-a-second-language teacher, Nooshafarin Ravaghi, and one of the escapees, Hossein Nayeri, had a relationship that was "close" and "personal," highly atypical for a prison teacher and an inmate, not to mention inappropriate and completely banned. It is believed that Ravaghi provided Nayeri and two other inmates, Bac Duong and Jonathan Tieu, with a printed photograph from Google Earth to help them escape from the maximum-security facility. Authorities believe she may have helped them on the outside as well.
Since the daring January 22 escape, word has circulated that the English-as-a-second-language teacher, Nooshafarin Ravaghi, and one of the escapees, Hossein Nayeri, had a relationship that was "close" and "personal," highly atypical for a prison teacher and an inmate, not to mention inappropriate and completely banned. It is believed that Ravaghi provided Nayeri and two other inmates, Bac Duong and Jonathan Tieu, with a printed photograph from Google Earth to help them escape from the maximum-security facility. Authorities believe she may have helped them on the outside as well.
The men Ravaghi helped all had very violent criminal histories. They were awaiting trial for crimes ranging from torture to murder. Her rumored love-interest, Nayeri, tortured a man with a blowtorch, severed his penis and attempted to cover up the crime with bleach. Jonathan Tieu shot a rival gang member to death when he was just 15. Bac Duong shot a man during a burglary. It goes beyond rational thought to think that an educated prison staffer would willingly go to great lengths and risk everything -- career, freedom and public safety -- to help break three dangerous inmates out of jail and into the streets.
This was not first time something like this has occurred in U.S. prisons and it certainly won't be the last. Remember Joyce Mitchell? She was the prison tailor at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, where she aided in the escape of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat last summer, who were on the run for nearly a month before being killed and captured, respectively. Mitchell explained that she was flattered by the inmates' attention, "caught up in the fantasy," as she put it. Matt and Sweat, at least one of whom she had sexual relations with, were "nice" to her, and that was all it took to sway her to smuggle in the power tools that the men used to successfully break out of the prison.
These cases shock us for good reason. The concept defies logic and slaps morality in the face. While shocking, it isn't all that rare. According to a 2014 report by the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics, data collected on sexual victimization in prisons from 2009 to 2011 revealed some cringe-worthy facts that put into perspective the prevalence of these inexplicable relationships:
But it is wrong. Mitchell's and Ravaghi's actions are not part of a thrilling love story. These are not love stories.
These are crimes.
This was not first time something like this has occurred in U.S. prisons and it certainly won't be the last. Remember Joyce Mitchell? She was the prison tailor at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, where she aided in the escape of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat last summer, who were on the run for nearly a month before being killed and captured, respectively. Mitchell explained that she was flattered by the inmates' attention, "caught up in the fantasy," as she put it. Matt and Sweat, at least one of whom she had sexual relations with, were "nice" to her, and that was all it took to sway her to smuggle in the power tools that the men used to successfully break out of the prison.
These cases shock us for good reason. The concept defies logic and slaps morality in the face. While shocking, it isn't all that rare. According to a 2014 report by the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics, data collected on sexual victimization in prisons from 2009 to 2011 revealed some cringe-worthy facts that put into perspective the prevalence of these inexplicable relationships:
-48% of substantiated incidents of sexual victimization involved guards and inmates
-48% of staff sexual misconduct cases involved female staffers
-84% of the relationships between female staffers and inmates "appeared to be willing," compared to only 37% of relationships between male guards and inmatesRobin Kay Miller, a corrections officer for 20 years who retired in 2005 and is writing a book about working in the prison system, says female officers willingly risk their jobs to have relationships with inmates because they "like the attention and get emotionally attached." Convicts are master manipulators, and if they happen across a female guard in an vulnerable state, perhaps absent of a good relationship at home or a relationship at all, laying on the charm can go a long way. Once they get "sucked in," says Miller, they are able to convince themselves that what they're doing isn't wrong.
But it is wrong. Mitchell's and Ravaghi's actions are not part of a thrilling love story. These are not love stories.
These are crimes.
Leave a comment