Ex-inmate claims Washtenaw County Jail has 'anti-homosexual atmosphere'

It is sickening to think that this kind of treatment is present in our jails. I know women prisoners in Michigan had recently won a lawsuit due to the sexual abuse they faced as well, so I am not surprised to hear that this extends to men's prisons. I sincerely hope the jail administration makes serious changes to their policies to prevent this kind of abuse and mistreatment.

While these allegations are serious, please remember that they are allegations and should not be treated as fact.

So, when the shoe is on the other foot, Mr. Lee (the convicted sex offender) doesn't appreciate it too much? Sounds like he may be developing a little empathy for some of his victims. How ironic.

Jail is a horrible place to land and the guards, especially the guards, should not join in on terrorizing the prisoners. If proven guilty, those guards should be fired and dealt with appropriately. That being said, if you sick, waste of human skin, criminals can not deal with living in an abusive, corrupt, jail system, then stop breaking the law. A lot of the prisoner on prisoner abuse in jail is all a part of learning curve; I have almost no sympathy for those terrible convicted criminals.

No sympathy for people like this.they're predators and deserve to be treated as such.put them in the general population of County Jails and State Prisons and WHAT HAPPENS HAPPENS.

I've spent some time working at the jail and find this hard to believe. The washtenaw county jail is safer then most high schools.

I also find this very hard to believe. In the jail you are constantly being watched. There is no privacy.You are rarely if ever left alone by yourself.Even in ares where there are groups in a common area it is constantly being patrolled.

“He kept remarkable notes, almost, I believe on a daily basis,"

Notes, or a creative writing excersize?

Anybody who thinks he "deserves" this is the main problem why crime escalates. If anything he said is true, it is a CRIME. Just because he is a criminal does not make it any different. They people at the jail are not juries, or judges, and they do not make ANY decision on punishment. They should do their job and do it well.

I could care less what any criminal says or how he is "treated in prison" Quit behaving like trash and you won't be treated like trash. Regardless of your sexual orientation. Being gay is not what got him into prison or what led to this alleged mistreatment. Being a sexual predator did. He gets what he gets. tough. Stop feeling sorry for criminals.

I am furious that the names of these officers was released to the public, before there was an investigation, trial , or judgement/conviction. This kind of accusation can be devistating
not only to the officers spirit and well-being but to their family as

I hope those at

I hope those folks defending him are also providing their services for women who have been raped. If you really want to prove your case--bite really hard. You'll have witnesses who hear the screaming, DNA, the proof is in the pants.

A comment was removed because it contained a personal attack. Please make your points in a civil way. Thanks.

Lee Higgins: Will you please show everyone where to look to see what Mr. Larry Lee was convicted of ? At least this is FACT and people can decide for themselves.

Anyone that wants to hear the personal stories about Mr. Larry Lee just ask me!

LARRY DESHAWN LEE : Criminal Sexual Conduct, 3rd Deg (Incapacitated Victim) Date of Offense: 06/03/2006,Conviction Type: Jury, Date of Sentence: 03/13/2007; Minimum Sentence: 3 years, Earliest Release Date: 06/09/2009 Current Status: Prisoner

is this lee related to clifton lee? related to the clifton lee, who's family just won a lawsuit against wcsd?

inquiring minds want to know...

http://www.state.mi.us/mdoc/asp/otis2profile.asp?mdocNumber=631639

Yup, he was convicted of performing oral sex on straight male students passed out at college parties. That's the tip of the iceburg folks... I know him.

Since my entries keep being removed, I will just include the link which I pulled from verbatim
http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/opinions/final/coa/20080916_c277551_76_277551.opn.pdf

In LC No. 06-000987-FH, he was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520e(1)(a), against DL. In LC No. 06-000988-FH, he was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520d(1), against CB. Defendant was sentenced to nine months in jail for the fourth-degree CSC conviction and 3 to 15 years’ imprisonment for the third-degree CSC conviction, to be served concurrently.
Defendant, an openly homosexual man, was convicted of sexually assaulting two heterosexual men while they were sleeping or incapacitated.
Bianca Johnson, defendant’s former close friend, testified that defendant expressed a sexual interest in young, straight, white men but also disliked those same men for how they treated women. Defendant allegedly pursued straight white men to humiliate them and “pay them back” for their treatment of women. Defendant denied expressing any intent to “pay back” straight men. The defense presented two additional witnesses, who testified that defendant never expressed a desire to “get back” at white males.
. .. . defendant’s allegations that appointed counsel “hated gay people” . . .
Given these circumstances and the strong evidence of defendant’s guilt, defendant has not established the prejudice prong of his ineffective assistance claim.
The evidence indicated that the acts against the individual victims were “part of a single scheme or plan” by defendant to sexually assault heterosexual young, white males to humiliate them and “pay them back” for their treatment of women. In each case, defendant performed oral sex on a young, heterosexual, white man while he was sleeping or incapacitated. Each victim testified that he awoke to defendant performing oral sex on him.
http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/opinions/final/coa/20080916_c277551_76_277551.opn.pdf

http://www.state.mi.us/mdoc/asp/otis2profile.asp?mdocNumber=631639

MDOC Number: 631639
SID Number:2527621W
Name:LARRY DESHAWN LEE
Racial Identification:Black
Gender:Male
Hair:Black
Eyes:Brown
Height:5' 10"
Weight:150 lbs.
Date of Birth:10/27/1977 (32)
LARRY DESHAWN LEE
Current Status:Prisoner
Earliest Release Date: 06/09/2009
Assigned Location: Florence Crane Correctional Facility
Maximum Discharge Date: 06/09/2021
Security Level: I


Offense:Criminal Sexual Conduct, 3rd Deg (Incapacitated Victim)
Minimum Sentence:3 years 0 months 0 days
MCL#:750.520D1C
Maximum Sentence:15 years 0 months
Court File#:06988-FH
Date of Offense:06/03/2006
County:Washtenaw
Date of Sentence:03/13/2007
Conviction Type:Jury

The charges he is making are almost exactly like the charges he was convicted of!

I have no sympathy for a guy who assaults passed out men.

Jail is supposed to be nasty.

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Wow, my heart just bleeds for this poor mistreated sex offender...

If you read the decision by the oourt, referenced above, it sounds as if this guy is a total hypocritical nut case and it is unfortunate that the guards and medical personnel have to be dragged through this.

Annarbor28: He absolutely is a nut case and a very dangerous one at that. Everyone that knows him will tell you that....

If I were any of these correctional officer, I would look into sueing David Santacroce. How do you take on a case without so much as investigation. Maybe the UM should look into how much work David Santacroce has on his plate, seems he would be too busy teaching to take on such a non case.

If you are an employee of the jail then you more than likely know the "corners" where the cameras can't reach. Just because this man is a convicted criminal and the alleged offenders are officers doesn't make this man's story untrue. There are plenty of corrupt officers in every system willing to take advantage of their power.
For those who are hinting that this man deserves this type of treatment, keep in mind cruel and unusual punishment is not allowed. I doubt a law professor would stake his reputation on a case he didn't think he could win or that didn't have enough supporting evidence.

emu there are hundreds of spots the cameras don't cover, what makes it hard to believe, is that people are milling around the jail all the time. You have other officers, command staff, medical staff, and trustees, the jail is a hopping place almost 24/7.

I have a hard time with this whole artical... Sence when have we given the names of our civil employees without cause?Simply because an inmate...a sexual preditor.. makes alligations?? The thing that I find most interesting is that my tax dollars is paying not only to keep him housed in jail..but now to also pay his leagle defense.. and it will be my tax dollars that will pay the reward if he wins.. seems to me it is easy money. It seems that the actions in which he is complaining about was fine when he was on the gving end.. but not the recieving??? Hummmm ..I guess that is what you would call KARMA... I would hope that the judge in this case would see this for what it is.. a man looking for a free ride at the tax payers expense....

I know Larry - I've also posted several comments about stories on this guy, but each one is deleted because they are "personal attacks". I find it funny Mr. Lee can make comments, AnnArbor.com can post the names of the people he's accusing, but people that know Larry can't state factual things about him.

If he wins money from the government I will lose all faith in our justice system.

If you read the opinion, you will see that the dude objected in his last case to having assistants such as an "intern" whom I think was a law student involved in his case. Now they are doing the same thing here by assigning law student to his case. So now he will have the same objection. He also had a large part of the opinion devoted to his appearing as a female during the trial, blaming his attorneys, even though he had fired them and was representing himself for a period of time. He was implying that transexuals and cross-dressers were prejudiced against and that it was his lawyers' fault somehow, so the case should be thrown out, or something to that effect. Who knows what he will do this time? He obviously is looking for a big cash settlement that will come from our hard-earned tax money. I think U-M Law School should have to pay the settlement, if they win money for him.

If there are so many cameras in the jail, so that this would be impossible to happen, then let the judge have enough rocks to just throw out the case. Do the guards have to pay for attorneys? Is U-M Law School volunteering substantial attorney time for them? Law students?

There are so many vets in this state who fought for this country and are now facing bankruptcy or foreclosure. Sure their cases are not as sexy or PC, but let's put these profs and law students on more of these cases, helping people who have contributed to our society, not this horrible sicko who tortures and rapes people, mentally, emotionally and physically.

BTW, I had a comment removed too, that I thought was actually very reasonable. I think the editors here are too busy protecting this rapist, and exposing the names of the hard-working guards, to just let readers express their opinions.

The opinion from his last case, posted above, (thank you) is a good read, showing that truth is often stranger than fiction!

BTW, where is he from originally, and how was he admitted to U-M? Was he valedictorian of his HS class, etc etc etc??

I would want to know why anyone would give this case any attention? that is basically what the whole thing is about.. Look at the three ring circus it has turned into..and the A2 news needs to stop protecting the convict. (that it what it is). I am sorry but the names of the gaurds should have not been released either.

Has anyone considered this criminal is delusional? And his copious notes are an exercise in creative writing. I didn't see anything in this article about "PROOF" Where's the proof? If things were this bad in this particular jail we would be hearing many more stories from other criminal inmates.

The title of this article begs a commment, Are we to think that the Washtewnaw County Jail should have a Pro-homosexual atmosphere?

You are right, he needs a thorough mental health evaluation, and very long-term hospitalization. He also will most likely get out and commit the same crimes again. He has not demonstrated any remorse or understanding of his crimes.

Who decides where U-M Law School commits its resources? Shouldn't even the merits of this being a case be decided on first? How to keep him in, not get out with a large cash settlement? Where is the cash settlement for the victims of his crimes? Why doesn't U-M Law School work on this? If he is let out and commits the same crimes again, who is responsible?

I had worked in a prison for many years. You "poor baby, be nice to them" types make me burst in laughter. You people really think that these people have it that hard? Lets see..... Country Buffet styled meals most of the time, NEW library books at least every other year, FREE medical - optical - dental, FREE cable TV with ALL the channels, FREE recreation of every type, and the list goes on. AND best of all... they have KILLED, RAPED, Plundered and Pillaged!!! Yet the liberals want to cry a sea of tears for a Homosexual man cause he was not kissed on the bum by the Correctional Staff. Tell you liberals what, Let them move in with you so you can take care of their needs :) Lets hear it for giving them Hope and Change... YES ...you ... CAN!! ;)

Jail and prison is spose to be punishiment.. not leasure..not fun..They get treated better then the average person.They are getting free health care..( thank you tax payer).. 3 squares a day ( thank you tax payer) free housing ( thank you tax payer) Free education/ college courses ( thank you taxpayer) free cable, cloths etc... the list goes on.. and now thanks to this law suit free leagle counsel.. I want to know when enough is enough? when do we put our foot down and say we are done??? The jail is a anti-homosexual atmusphere.. well so is the church I go to, and the sportsman club that I belong to and the schools we attend..jail is not spose to be condusive to one.. but condusive to all..so what is the next step.. straight prisoners suing becasue it is not a hedrosexual atmosphere? Lets be for real!!!!

Let's keep in mind that irregardless of Lee's behavior that landed him in prison, this lawsuit is not about his behavior. It's about whether our trusted law enforcement officials misbehaved. No one deserves to be degraded and treated less than a human being. Keep in mind, what our trusted law enforcement officials have been accused of is the very type of disgusting behavior that we as a nation of fair minded people portend to abhor in other countries. So, if we detest that behavior in people of other countries, and we want to set ourselves up as examples for others to emulate, then we should not condone it when it happens in our country. I hope that our trusted law enforcement officials did not engage in the type of behavior described in this post, but if so, then we have a right to know. I question why the U-M Law school would take on this case if there was not some merit to it. It's too bad that Lee has to be the poster child for the lawsuit.

It is sickening to think that annarbor.com is doing what they can to protect this mentally unstable rapist.
How unfortunate that so many officials names were listed to the public before any type of real investigation has happened.

If you don't want to be in jail-don't do the crime-Problem Solved!!! It is called Washtenaw County Jail not Washtenaw County Temporary Spa for the Criminally Challenged! DUH!

In any lawsuit names will be listed. It's considered public information. It doesn't necessarily mean the defendants are guilty. I don't understand why everyone is getting so hopped up about names being listed.

Whatever the case may be with Larry Lee, he has full right to lodge his complaint. I'm sure evidence will be coming out to support his claim. After all, he has excellent notes dating back to 2006.

I am shocked that the news printed the names before an investigation has been done. shame on you!! He probably had contact with them at one point and remembered their names. It sounds like someone there has it out for the washtenaw county sheriffs office. The people listed are some of the finest people that I know. Let me remind people you can't believe everything you read!!!

msharley,

As you know, these individuals are named as defendants in a federal lawsuit.

A comment has been removed from this thread because it was off-topic. If you have questions about our reporting policies, you can email Tony Dearing at tonydearing@annarbor.com. Let's keep the discussion on this thread focused on the story, please.

Mr. Higgins
So that makes it right, Federal or not. the peice could have been published without the names. Just my opinion.