Plaintiff In Civil Suit Against Former Sheriff Speaks With News On 6, The Frontier

<p>The woman who sued a former Tulsa County sheriff, and won, is speaking publically for the first time. She spoke with News On 6 and our partner, The Frontier.</p>

Friday, March 4th 2016, 11:28 pm

By: News On 6


The woman who sued a former Tulsa County sheriff, and won, is speaking publically for the first time.

She spoke with News On 6 and our partner, The Frontier, about conditions in the Tulsa County Jail.

LaDona Poore is back in jail, this time as an adult, six years after she said a jail employee sexually assaulted her more than 100 times.

"I don't know, it's just, it's hard. It's hard for me to talk about, like the details,” Poore said. “And when I think about stuff, I just want to numb it. I just want to numb myself."

Poore didn't tell anyone about being sexually assaulted by a Tulsa County Jail employee until she got out.

She took the stand in her federal lawsuit against former sheriff Stanley Glanz, and jurors believed her - saying Glanz knew she was at risk of sexual assault and did not act to prevent it.

3/2/2016 Related Story: Jury Finds Against Former Tulsa County Sheriff In Federal Trial

“The other side trying to make me look bad and to be a liar, that was hard. And then just everyone just knowing everything," Poore said.

A News On 6, Frontier investigation found that girls in the jail at the time, like Poore, are in solitary confinement - locked down 23 hours a day. They never go outside or know what time of day it is, but watch TV through a bean hole.

That’s compared to the boys in the jail, who have their own pod with TVs and an outdoor rec yard.

Poore said, "I think they should be, even to a regular rec area, they should be able to go to a regular rec area to get air instead of being stuck in a cell."

She is speaking to us because she wants other girls - inmates who are victims of sexual assault - to tell someone.

"If they're in a locked down facility, I know it's hard to tell anybody about anything. And if they're not brave enough to tell anyone...Soon as they get out, let someone know," Poore said.

She was awarded just $25,000, but the sheriff's office will also pay her six-figure legal fee, using taxpayer money.

Poore hopes her case makes a difference, helping inmates who've been raped.

“Let them know so they can do something about it because it's not right," she said.

Records show the sheriff's office has spent $400,000 on attorneys since Bob Bates shot and killed Eric Harris.

TCSO Reserve Deputy Shooting Controversy

There are 21 open civil rights cases against the sheriff's office, none of which are being settled.

Poore is trying to get counseling, but it's a long journey.

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