By C1 Staff
LOS LUNAS, N.M. – Corrections officials from the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas are on paid administrative leave after female employees made claims of sexual harassment.
KOAT reports that five women say they endured sexual harassment at the hands of staff under Warden Robert Stewart and four other officials while working at the facility.
The suit claims male correctional officers grabbed the women and even exposed themselves, and the women claim that officials knew this was happening but did nothing to stop it.
Department of Corrections Secretary Gregg Mercantel only spoke on removing the officials from their posts, saying it was the department’s method “simply to pause and approach it objectively to make sure we understand what we’re investigating.”
Three of the five women still work at the prison. Mercantel said more people could end up on administrative leave, and he has not currently contacted any law enforcement agencies to look into the alleged incidents.