By VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — Already the subject of two lawsuits alleging prisoner mistreatment, the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility has also been targeted by allegations that an ex-employee sexually abused or exploited at least one detainee there.

Former inmate Allen Seymour claims that an unnamed Wyatt medical technician insisted on applying a medical cream to Seymour’s genital area after Seymour had sought treatment for a rash. While doing so, the technician allegedly made remarks that “were sexual, or a (proposition)” and touched Seymour in an inappropriate manner.
Seymour, of Oxford, Mass., made the accusation in July through Maria Elena Perez, his Florida-based attorney. Perez brought his complaint to a judge while Seymour was in court on charges of defrauding an Irish businessman.
Seymour was later questioned about the Wyatt allegations by representatives of the U.S. Marshals Office and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General in Boston, Perez said.
When speaking to a fellow prisoner about the incident later, Seymour allegedly learned that at least one other inmate had a similar experience involving the same technician.
According to Perez, other detainees who were receiving drugs in exchange for sexual favors chose not to blow the whistle on the same employee.
“Some people apparently went along with it, because they were being given pills,” Perez said. “You have to be careful (in corrections), because they’re prisoners, and it’s very easy to exploit them. Some people were just afraid to talk about it. But Allen is an outspoken person, and he doesn’t like to see” such conduct.
Seymour’s outspokenness may have led to trouble with both staff and other prisoners, Perez said. Some inmates were reportedly unhappy that Seymour was jeopardizing an arrangement from which they were getting mood-altering substances. Moreover, Perez alleged that a corrections officer had once indicated to Seymour’s family that Seymour had been sent for medical attention after being assaulted by another inmate.
Perez said Seymour had in fact suffered an adverse reaction to medication, and that the officer had relayed the message about the beating as a practical joke. She noted that when the incident came to light, it was too late to report it.
A statement from the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation indicated that the CFDC learned of the allegations in April 2008, and that the accused employee no longer works at the Wyatt.
“A comprehensive investigation was immediately launched by our Professional Standards Unit and as the investigation subsequently unfolded, we turned the entire case in its entirety over to the USMS's Office of Inspector General,” the statement said. “We have been cooperating fully with the OIG office, and since this matter is still under investigation, we will have no further comments at this time.”
The statement also said the employee in question had been hired by the facility’s previous operator, Cornell Corrections, which oversaw its day-to-day operations before Anthony Ventetuolo’s Avcorr Consultants took over in 2007.
The federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) abruptly removed all 153 of its detainees from the Wyatt in December after its investigation into the death of Hiu Lui “Jason” Ng.
A Chinese national and ICE detainee, Ng died of cancer last summer while being held at the Wyatt. In recent weeks, the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit on behalf of Ng’s family, alleging that Ng was mistreated by Wyatt staffers and denied necessary medical attention.
A second inmate, Marino De Los Santos, filed a similar lawsuit on his own behalf, alleging that he too was denied proper medical treatment after slipping and falling in a Wyatt shower area on more than one occasion. When those allegations surfaced, former Wyatt spokesman Dante Bellini had no comment.
As part of an effort to get ICE detainees back — and the funding that comes with them — Mayor Charles Moreau replaced four of the five board members that oversee Wyatt operations via the CFDC.  The ICE investigation has been cited by the ACLU as providing some of the information needed to pursue legal action.
Moreau has also broached the possibility of leasing or selling the Wyatt, giving a recent tour of the facility to representatives of the Corrections Corporation of America.
Meanwhile, Seymour remains in custody awaiting sentencing, Perez said. According to a May 2008 statement from the Department of Justice, he and fellow Oxford resident Raymond A. Desautels III faced fraud charges for allegedly attempting to swindle an Irish businessman who had retained Desautels to represent him in a real estate transaction.
Desautels allegedly disbursed $1.94 million of the victim’s money to Seymour and his business associates in what was believed to be an attempt to establish a false elevated net worth for Seymour’s business, so as to “fraudulently obtain bank financing.”
According to the Department of Justice, Seymour was arrested at an airport in Florida while trying to smuggle cash to Venezuela.
Citing an ongoing investigation, a Department of Justice spokesperson said that she could not comment on Seymour’s allegations of sexual abuse at the Wyatt.
Perez said Seymour was eager to get the sentencing process over with, and was not trying to wheedle any advantage from the controversy over Wyatt detainee treatment.
“Allen doesn’t gain any benefit from that,” Perez said. “He just wants to get the hell out of there. And frankly, I don’t blame him.”