Six female inmates have made complaints against a notorious male prisoner housed in a women’s jail in Adelaide because he claims to be “transgender”, including allegations of rape and serious assault.
Violent criminal Leslie Graham Richards, 69, is currently serving a sentence for conspiracy to murder in a low-medium security unit at Adelaide Women’s Prison after being transferred from the women’s unit at Port Augusta Prison in 2021.
Richards, who claims he has “transitioned” into a woman and now goes by the name Krista, was last month accused of sexually assaulting a female inmate who was put in a cell with him in 2019 despite his history of violence against women.
Two more women then complained about being forced to share a cell with Richards, according to advocacy group Women’s Forum Australia, but South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas dismissed concerns about male inmates in women’s prisons as a “niche issue”.
Now three more women who were forced to be cellmates with Richards have come forward, with one alleging she was raped, and the other two alleging they were physically assaulted, The Advertiser reported.
One of the women who was allegedly assaulted needed hospitalisation, but when she returned she was placed in a high security area for her own “protection”, while Richards was allowed to roam free in the low-medium section.
The alleged rape victim reported the incident but then withdrew the report after being threatened, and Richards spent a few weeks in isolation.
A source at the prison said they were aware of several incidents where Richards had assaulted female prisoners, and said he was known for using standover tactics to bully and control other inmates.
Women’s Forum Australia head of advocacy Stephanie Bastiaan said the Labor government’s failure to protect female prisoners was disgraceful.
“Women in prison have nowhere to run,” Ms Bastiaan said.
“When the doors lock behind them, their safety is entirely in the hands of the state – and that makes the government’s failure to protect them even more shameful.”
Richards’ alleged 2019 victim spoke out after horrific revelations emerged in September that a male paedophile who sexually abused his own five-year-old daughter was being housed in a women’s prison in Victoria because he claims to be “transgender”, sparking nationwide outrage.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro responded by announcing a ban on men in women’s prisons, but Mr Malinauskas dismissed concerns about women’s safety, saying he was more concerned about aboriginal incarceration rates.
“When it comes to corrections, the government’s policy focuses on reducing recidivism. We’ve also got an interest in trying to tackle the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in incarceration,” he said last month.
“As Premier of this state, I can honestly say I have not turned my mind to our policy pertaining to ‘trans’ prisoners.”
Header image: Left, right, Leslie Graham Richards (supplied).
