In the last five years, three former prison guards at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk have been convicted of sexually assaulting female inmates.
One of those women is now suing in federal court, arguing that the sexual violence she experienced was the result of “deliberate indifference to the rights and safety of inmates” by the prison’s staff and leadership.
The lawsuit — filed in Wyoming’s U.S. District Court in August — names Joseph Gaul, a former correctional officer, alongside WWC Warden Timothy Lang and Deputy Warden Robert Hardy. Five John Does are also listed as defendants whom the plaintiff could not name but believes were WWC employees.
In 2023, Gaul admitted to inappropriate sexual contact with the plaintiff, Chasity Jacobs. Soon thereafter, he pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to two to five years in prison.
Before he was hired to work at the Women’s Center in 2019, Gaul was terminated from at least two public-sector jobs in Nebraska due to misconduct toward women, according to the lawsuit.
In 2019, while serving as the director of the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center in Nebraska, Gaul was placed on administrative leave and subsequently fired for sending sexually explicit text messages to a female subordinate, the complaint states.
While the Scottsbluff Star-Herald reported on Gaul’s dismissal at the time, the reason for his termination wasn’t made public after county commissioners met in closed session.
Before his time at the Nebraska detention center, Gaul was also fired from the Nebraska Health and Human Services for inappropriate interactions with female colleagues and sexually inappropriate comments, according to the lawsuit.
The Wyoming Department of Corrections is required to conduct background and reference checks before hiring any correctional officer.
But when it came to Gaul’s hiring, the lawsuit alleges “these requirements were either ignored or improperly conducted.”
The Wyoming Department of Corrections declined WyoFile’s request for comment, citing its policy not to comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit also argues that Gaul’s conduct was not an isolated incident, “but part of a longstanding pattern of misconduct by male correctional officers at the WWC.”
It points to two other former guards who were convicted of sexual assault of an inmate — one in 2020, another earlier this year.
“The pervasive problem of sexual assault by WWC correctional officers was well known to prison administrators including, specifically, Defendants Lang and Hardy,” according to the lawsuit. “Despite this, Defendant Lang, and other supervisory personnel failed to implement safeguards or address the systematic breakdowns in hiring, training, reporting, or accountability that enabled repeated sexual abuse.”
Details
Jacobs was arrested on felony charges when she was 19 years old and began serving a 25-to-35-year sentence in Lusk in 2020, according to the lawsuit.
In 2023, she was segregated from the main prison population and employed as a janitorial worker with restricted movement. It was during this time that she often encountered Gaul in unsupervised areas.
“Gaul used his position of authority to cultivate familiarity with inmates,” including the plaintiff, according to the lawsuit. “He routinely overshared personal information, including details about his failing marriage, and offered special privileges to select inmates.”
The following section contains graphic details. — Eds.
In July 2023, while Jacobs was performing cleaning duties, Gaul isolated her in a chemical closet where he raped her, according to the complaint.
The plaintiff, “who is substantially smaller than Defendant Gaul, was physically overpowered, frightened, and unable to resist. She froze in fear and was unable to cry out or escape,” the lawsuit states.
Shortly after the assault, according to the lawsuit, another inmate overheard Gaul ask Jacobs, “Did I cum in you?”
About one week later, Gaul assaulted Jacobs for the second time in a different unsupervised area of the prison.
Wyoming Department of Corrections internal affairs and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began a formal investigation on Aug. 3, 2023, when Gaul was reported.
Gaul had a duty to protect the plaintiff, the lawsuit states, but he “utterly failed” and his conduct “constitutes excessive force and cruel and unusual punishment in violation” of Jacobs’ constitutional rights.
Furthermore, Gaul’s violent conduct was part of a pattern, the lawsuit argues.
“Multiple sexual assaults have been investigated internally by WDOC rather than immediately referred to outside law enforcement, undermining accountability and potentially concealing the full scope of abuse,” the filing states. “Investigations are often incomplete, shielded by internal review procedures, and rarely result in systematic reform or staff discipline beyond the individual perpetrator.”
The complaint points to Kyle Broberg, a former correctional officer, who was convicted in 2020 of sexually abusing an inmate in secluded areas of the WWC, as well as Kenneth Jensen, a former supervisory correctional officer.
Jensen was tasked with overseeing an inmate maintenance crew. While in this supervisory role, Jensen systematically manipulated, groomed, and sexually abused an inmate in September 2024, according to the lawsuit.
The three recent prosecutions and convictions are likely an undercount, the lawsuit alleges.
My niece is an inmate at WWC. Her safety is my number one concern because she is able to share her challenges with her family when we visit, and we are very worried. I cannot write more without compromising her. The state needs to do an exhaustive investigation and do whatever is necessary to ensure inmates’ safety. They do not deserve to live with the daily threat of sexual assault while they pay their debt to society. Will imprisoned women ever be safe or will the state ignore their role?
What absolute BS. 2 to 5 years? A pattern of assaults? Every person involved, those who had knowledge of this and those who did not do their job in vetting these people should do 30 years. This is why all of their prior transgressions should be public knowledge.