A man says he was put in a Cumberland County jail cell with 13 women who raped him.
Carolyn Harris says her brother, Michael Harris, was mistakenly locked up with more than a dozen female inmates in the holding cell of the Cumberland County Courthouse. That's when she says her brother was raped.
"He said he was in lockup, and the reason why he was in lockup was because they made a mistake and locked him up with the women," Carolyn Harris said. "I reckon because of his hair. His hair is like down his back."
Michael Harris usually keeps his hair braided, but his sister finds is hard to believe that jailers thought he was a woman - - especially because female inmates wear tan uniforms and men are assigned orange uniforms. Harris also has a moustache and goatee.
"As they were processing, Mr. harris was able to slide to the right, go into the female holding cell and remain there," Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler said in a Tuesday press conference. He would not confirm if Harris had sex with any of the women. Butler did say no one had complained about being raped.
Carolyn Harris received a letter from her brother in jail, in which he said, "I got raped on January 17th. They put me in the cell with women by mistake." Harris told his sister he had sex with several of the women in the holding cell.
"They didn't holler rape or nothing. So, evidently the women, whoever, whatever went on in there, they must have liked it," Carolyn Harris said. "Ain't nobody turned him up and said, 'It's a man in here.'"
Butler says he has made changes to make sure it does not happen again and plans on punishing anyone found negligent. Carolyn Harris says her brother is being punished for a mistake she feels was made by jailers. She says Michael Harris was put in isolation for 28 days.