In jail, but out of the closet

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I had already been in jail for about a month when I was convicted of "Sodomy in the Second Degree" (translation: giving two boys between the ages of 11 and 13 blowjobs). The trial judge had forbidden me to contact the young complainants in the case, boys who had been forced to make charges against me by threats of arrest, separation from their families, and rape by other inmates once they were sent to juvenile prison. During the trial, I was alleged to have had a phone conservation with one of these youngsters. At the request of my attorney, I was placed in the protective custody unit at Rikers Island, arriving at approximately 1 a.m. After being awakened about four hours later to return to court for the on-going trial, I was beaten by five other inmates for being a "baby raper" despite the judge's order that I be protected. How these inmates learned the charges against me is subject to conjecture. I certainly didn't tell them!

It may have been the company correction officers, who may have even made it their business not to be around when the assault took place. I filed a lawsuit against the officers in question for gross negligence in failing to protect me, as the judge had ordered, but the federal suit was dismissed for "lack of proof of malicious intent" before I was permitted any discovery material - a look at information the other side has access to. [...]

So, as I see it, an adult male who is charged with having sex with an underaged teenager has three options if he plans to survive in the New York State prison system:

  • 1) Be 6 ft., 8 in. and weigh 280 lbs.
  • 2) Sign into protective custody. (In most of the protective custody areas in the system, your liberty and the quality of your life are further limited to a considerable degree. Some units have 23-hour lock in, with no programs, not even religious worship, available.)
  • 3) Be out of the closet, be proud, and respect yourself.


source: Article 'In Jail, But Out of the Closet' by Richard Bagarozy; NAMBLA Bulletin, vol. 9, n. 9; November 1988