Allegheny County Jail officials have upgraded security to keep sexual predators away from visiting school children.
The guidelines issued Friday by warden Ramon C. Rustin are in response to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article about a secret 2009 report detailing pedophiles and violent felons mixing with children in a "scared straight" program.
The new guidelines govern inmate participation in the "Men and Women of Truth" and "Jail Reality Tour" programs. They require guards to always accompany citizens as they interact with inmates and mandate that the public visit the jail in groups, never leaving anyone alone with criminals.
The new regulations also order the jail's intake and processing division to sign off on all inmates entering programs that mix prisoners with children and the public. Neither inmates with previous arrests for sexual or violent crimes nor those convicted of any offense against a minor, including endangering the welfare of a child, are allowed to participate in the programs.
County Manager Jim Flynn told the Trib a similar memorandum had been circulated shortly after officers discovered on Jan. 22, 2009, that Peter A. Farley, 25, of Philadelphia had been mixing with children in a "Men and Women of Truth" program designed to teach children to make better life decisions.
Farley was awaiting trial for statutory rape, corruption of minors and indecent assault on a child. He's now serving a prison sentence for those crimes. The jail later identified seven other inmates with histories of sexual or violent crimes who were being housed in the drug and alcohol treatment wing of the jail and had become eligible for special prison programs, including some that worked with children.
"I asked the warden to ensure that everything was tight, that these inmates would never have contact in any way with the public," said Flynn.
