By Angela Hatton
Fredonia, KY – A state prison in western Kentucky will become an all-female facility following an announcement today by Governor Steve Beshear. Western Kentucky Correctional Complex in Fredonia will receive about four hundred women from Otter Creek Prison in eastern Kentucky. Male inmates at WKCC will go to other state and private facilities around Kentucky. Beshear Spokesperson Kerri Richardson says the inmates are moving following allegations of sexual abuse at Otter Creek.
"The second thing that we did after this incident surfaced is support legislation that's in the General Assembly right now, to increase the penalty of sexual misconduct by correctional officers and other prison officials. It's currently a class A misdemeanor; we support raising that to a class D felony."
Richardson says the move will happen at the beginning of the fiscal year in July. She says the measure should be cost-neutral the first year and save 2-point-2 million dollars annually after that. WKCC will be Kentucky's second female prison. Women are the largest growing segment of the state's prison population.