Ex-Inmates Say They Were Coerced Into Sex Women File Suit, Claim Work-Release Counselor Threatened To Send Them Back To Prison

Two former inmates of a Spokane work-release center have filed lawsuits against a past supervisor who they say threatened to return them to prison unless they had sex with him.

The women, Teresa Moran and Dawn Kaplan-Batty, accuse former corrections counselor Roy Martinez, 43, of compelling them in 1994 to have sex while they were inmates at the Eleanor Chase House.

Martinez worked at the work-release center from 1992 until 1994. The women were completing prison terms for drug violations and were work-release residents at the time.

Martinez was not a state employee while he worked at Chase House. He was employed by Second Chance, a private, Seattle-based agency that runs several work-release centers across the state.

Tri-Cities resident Moran filed her lawsuit in February. Kaplan-Batty, now living in Pierce County, filed her lawsuit in Spokane County Superior Court this week.

Both suits allege that Martinez misused his authority by telling the women he knew they had violated terms of their work-release programs by drinking alcohol.

He insisted they have sex with him or face going back to prison because they had violated work-release guidelines.

In addition to Martinez, the lawsuits name Second Chance and the Washington Department of Corrections as co-defendants. The suits say both agencies should have supervised Martinez better or should have determined he was a bad risk to perform his duties.

Kaplan-Batty, 32, referred all questions to her attorney. She had been serving a 27-month drug sentence when she was transferred to the house at Seventh and Stevens.

“This is a situation that still affects her life very negatively,” said Kaplan-Batty’s attorney, Elinor Cromwell.

“This is a case all about power and the discrepancy in power felt by people in her circumstances,” Cromwell said.

Moran, 38, could not be reached for comment.

Efforts to reach Martinez were also unsuccessful. A relative said he moved recently, taking a job in New York state.

Kaplan-Batty’s suit says Martinez had sex with her on two occasions in August 1994. He then continued harassing her until November of that year.

Concerns about Martinez’s behavior were raised by other inmates at that time. Second Chance supervisors began a review of his performance and fired him in December 1994, said spokeswoman Laura Blaske.

“We found no evidence to corroborate the claims made by the two women,” Blaske said.

“But we felt it was significant enough a concern that we didn’t want to take chances” and dismissed Martinez, she said.

Neither lawsuit specifies the amount of money being sought in damages. No trial dates have been set.

Work-release centers allow low-risk inmates to finish the last stage of a criminal sentence in a supervised, non-prison location.

Second Chance operates the Chase center and Cornelius House. Both require inmates to hold jobs and avoid drugs and alcohol. Cornelius House usually has 60 residents; Chase has about 35.

Blaske said Second Chance is not facing any other accusations of worker wrongdoing.

, DataTimes