By Tom Eldred,
Delaware State News
WILMINGTON - Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and 11 state correction officials were sued in federal court Tuesday by the 27-year-old prison counselor who was abducted and raped July 12 at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, claims Gov. Minner, Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor, other named defendants, and "certain unknown individual employees'' of the Department of Correction exhibited "gross and reckless negligence'' in permitting ongoing security lapses at the prison.
The result, the suit says, exposed counselor Cassandra Arnold to "substantial risk of serious harm to a degree that shocks the conscience.''
"This marks the precise moment three months ago that (Ms. Arnold) was taken hostage by convicted serial rapist Scott Miller,'' attorney Jeffrey K. Martin said at a press conference minutes after the lawsuit was filed.
"While she was held hostage for those seven long hours, she was tortured, raped and nearly murdered.
"During these intervening three months, Cassie Arnold has had to endure the demons that have overtaken her memory and clouded her mind.
"This has happened on a continual and non-diminishing basis ... She continuously sees Scott Miller; she feels him on her; she feels the shank at her neck; and she can still smell his breath.''
Miller, serving 699 years for multiple crimes, abducted Ms. Arnold at knifepoint shortly after she completed a stress management counseling session for about a dozen inmates, including Miller, in a secure area of DCC.
According to a review released Oct. 6 by DOC, Miller somehow walked unattended by a manned security control booth and through two security doors to a non-secure office corridor, where he hid in a bathroom.
When Ms. Arnold noticed him in the bathroom, he grabbed her, put a knife to her throat, and barricaded an office, where he kept her hostage for nearly seven hours before he was shot and killed by a correctional officer.
Miller sexually assaulted and raped Ms. Arnold shortly before he was killed.
Mr. Martin said the lawsuit was filed because neither Gov. Minner, the state nor DOC has stepped forward to support his client in the aftermath of her ordeal.
"Cassie feels that Gov. Minner views her as unworthy of the governor's time,'' he said. "Cassie has stated publicly that the governor's inaction makes her feel 'worthless.'
"What is even more remarkable is that as we stand here today, three months to the moment from when this tragedy began, the state has failed to take any responsibility or hold anyone accountable for what happened on July 12.
"Not one person has even been disciplined. To the contrary, the person who received Cassie's e-mail about the doors being opened was promoted to deputy warden.''
Ms. Arnold e-mailed DCC security personnel June 29 that security doors were propped open at DCC. The e-mail was forwarded to Lt. David E. Pierce Jr., who according to Mr. Taylor, told officers to close the doors.
Lt. Pierce was promoted to deputy warden on Oct. 3.
Gov. Minner issued a brief response to the lawsuit.
"Ms. Arnold underwent a terrible ordeal and we are doing all we can to see that a similar situation does not occur in the future,'' the governor said in a prepared statement.
"That is why I appointed an independent panel to examine security issues at the Delaware Correctional Center as a follow-up to the department's internal investigation, but I cannot comment further on pending litigation."
DOC spokeswoman Elizabeth released a prepared statement.
"The Department of Correction regrets the ordeal endured by our employee,'' the statement said. "Her welfare and recovery remain a top concern.
"We have released the internal affairs investigation along with the details of steps we've taken so far and steps we plan on taking. We look forward to working with the National Institute on Corrections as they review several DOC policies and procedures and with the independent panel.
"However, because the incident is being litigated, we will not be making any further comment.''
Besides Gov. Minner, DOC and Mr. Taylor, the lawsuit names 11 other defendants.
They are Paul Howard, DOC Bureau of Prisons chief; Thomas Carroll, DCC warden; Lawrence McGuigan, former deputy warden at DCC; and Capt. Clyde Sagers, DCC.
Also, Lt. Pierce, Lt. John Salas, DCC; Lt. Steven Boone, DCC; Sgt. Brandon Richardson, DCC; Sgt. William Faust, DCC; Sgt. Lachelle Green, formerly employed at DCC; and Ronald Hosterman, treatment administrator, DCC.
Mrs. Welch said individual DOC officials named as defendants in the lawsuit declined requests for comment from the Delaware State News.
"Mr. Taylor, Mr. Howard, Mr. Carroll, Mr. McGuigan, Mr. Hosterman and Mr. Pierce all decline your request,'' she said. "I have not yet heard from Mr. Sagers."
The lawsuit details Ms. Arnold's version of what occurred July 12 and includes a graphic account of how Miller tied her hands with a lace from his boot and sexually assaulted her.
It describes the end of the ordeal when the 260-pound inmate, mortally wounded, lunged atop Ms. Arnold in an attempt to stab her to death.
"Because she had been able to untie her hands, Cassie was able to save her own life by reaching up and straining to hold back inmate Miller's last dying efforts to thrust the knife into her throat,'' the lawsuit says.
"With Miller's body fully extended on top of her, bleeding profusely all over her still naked body, she flung the shank across the room.''
The lawsuit says Ms. Arnold spent more than a week after the rape without knowing if Miller had AIDS, had tested positive for HIV or had made her pregnant.
It says she has had extreme difficulty sleeping since the attack and still experiences severe and lengthy crying fits.
"The great and egregious harm caused to (Ms. Arnold) was the direct result of the customs, practices, policies and procedures of the defendants,'' the lawsuit states.
"(Ms.) Arnold has been greatly damaged by the gross and/or wanton negligence and/or bad faith of the defendants. She has suffered physical injuries, mental anguish, loss of earning capacity, substantial pain and suffering of the highest order, and the loss of the ability to enjoy the experiences of life.''
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages, against all the listed defendants.
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Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.
