A female inmate in Wisconsin is currently being forced to share a cell with a trans-identified male who was incarcerated for sexually assaulting his own daughter.
Katelyn McGraw is a female inmate at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, serving time for nonviolent offenses. McGraw came forward to speak to media after she was bunked up with Mark Campbell, a convicted child rapist. The victim of child sexual abuse at the hands of her father, McGraw has described the experience as traumatizing.
McGraw explains that Campbell iss “aggressive,” detailing his violent outbursts in messages sent to her fiancé. On one occasion, McGraw claims to have asked Campbell to stop masturbating near her, which Campbell did “constantly.” Following her request, Campbell reportedly “snapped” and “went crazy,” punching the top bunk where McGraw was located at the time and yelling “[You] wanna spaz out, let’s spaz out!”
On another occasion, Campbell made inappropriate comments implying he wanted to show his genitals to McGraw so she could tell her friends, who he thought would be “curious” about his “vagina.” He allegedly bragged, “It looks great. The surgeon did an amazing job.” He also went on to share inappropriate details on the functionality of his genitals and inability to orgasm, which made McGraw very uncomfortable.
McGraw’s partner told The Daily Signal that he was concerned about McGraw’s safety, fearful that Campbell would harm her and that correctional officers would fail to adequately protect her.
McGraw has since been relocated to the prison’s psychiatric unit, Monarch. She was moved after complaining to staff Campbell was masturbating “all the [time].” Campbell allegedly claimed McGraw was “delusional” and, according to McGraw, the staff “told me if I refuse Monarch I’ll go to [segregation].”
But, she told the Daily Signal that “anything is better than a cell with him.”
Campbell is currently carrying out a 30-year sentence for 1st Degree Sexual Assault of a minor. Sentenced in 2007, he began identifying as transgender following incarceration. Campbell was also charged with Incest with a Child, Exposing a Child to harmful materials, and Causing a Child to View/Listen to Sex Acts but these charges were ultimately dismissed. According to past reports, Campbell is alleged to have abused his 10-year-old daughter while her younger brother was in the home and the boy would, at times, walk into the room the 10-year-old was being abused in.
Campbell first requested sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) in 2013, citing “severe gender dysphoria” putting him “at risk of self-harm,” which was denied. He then filed a lawsuit in 2016 requesting the Department of Corrections (DOC) provide the surgery, arguing “that in refusing to provide the surgery, Wisconsin Department of Corrections officials have violated her Eighth Amendment right to necessary medical care.”
In 2019, an Appeals court ruled it “couldn’t have anticipated that denying such a surgery to Campbell would violate his rights,” questioning if SRS was “medically necessary.” It is also documented that Campbell was receiving cross-sex hormones at this time.
In 2020, Federal Judge James D. Peterson ruled that Campbell’s 8th Amendment rights had indeed been violated and ordered the DOC to provide tax-payer funded SRS and move Campbell to a woman’s prison. However, Campbell’s requests for breast augmentation surgery, voice therapy, electrolysis, and monetary compensation were denied.
The lawsuit identifies Campbell as “Mark A. Campbell also known as Nicole Rose Campbell,” however his official inmate record has his name listed as Mark Campbell with his sex marker designated as “female.”
Taycheedah Correctional Institution claims they provide “female inmates with a safe and secure environment that is gender-responsive,“ but have not yet provided a statement on why they would house a victim of childhood sexual abuse alongside a convicted child rapist who abused his own daughter.
Public concern over male offenders being housed with female offenders, who are primarily non-violent, has been growing. Trans-identified males with histories of violent and sexually abusive behaviors housed with female inmates are particularly troubling for those concerned about the safety and welfare of female prisoners.
In 2020, Janiah Monroe, also known as Andre Patterson, was transferred from Pontiac Correctional Center, a male facility, to Logan Correctional Center, a female facility in Illinois. Monroe claims he faced sexual abuse and harassment from inmates and staff while residing at Pontiac Correctional Center.
As reported by the Illinois Times, a female inmate filed a lawsuit against several Logan employees “alleging that Monroe had raped her and that she was wrongly punished after reporting the assault to prison staff, who discounted it.” Monroe has a criminal history including multiple battery charges, aggravated attempted arson, second-degree murder, and attempted murder, and reportedly strangled his cellmate while serving time in jail in 2006.
In 2018, Karen White, a convicted pedophile, sexually assaulted two women after being transferred to a female prison in the UK, despite being legally classified as a man at the time, according to a previous report by The Guardian. He also admitted to raping two other women outside of prison and has a criminal past of violent behavior and theft.
According to the State of Wisconsin’s policy and procedures related to the housing of transgender inmates, “Facility and housing assignments shall be made on a case-by-case basis, considering the inmate’s health and safety as well as potential programming, management, and security concerns. An inmate’s own views regarding safety shall be given careful consideration.”
A Daily Signal report in 2023 found that as of July of last year, “of the 161 biological men who are housed in Wisconsin Department of Corrections facilities and who self-reported as transgender, 81 (50.3%) have reportedly been convicted of at least one count of sexual assault or sexual abuse.”
