Sex abuse at N.J. women’s prison ‘an open secret,’ DOJ report says

New Jersey has failed to stop rampant sexual abuse at its only prison for women despite decades of documented problems and the convictions of several employees, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a scathing report this week.

Federal investigators detailed incident after disturbing incident at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County. So many corrections officers and staff pressured prisoners into sexual acts — using threats of punishment or promises of contraband — that several women described the abuse there as “an open secret.”