Biological men housed at women’s prison in Washington draws national scrutiny

(The Center Square) – A Monday National Review article alleges shocking events inside the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy, Washington.

At least 11 male convicts — many of whom committed violent crimes against women and children — are currently housed at the Purdy facility, according to the article.

These are men who identify as women who have been allowed to transfer to the women’s prison in Purdy, a small unincorporated community and census-designated place north of Gig Harbor, even if they are not undergoing medically assisted transgender treatments or surgeries.

National Review reporter Caroline Downey, who has written extensively on this topic, told The Center Square she first learned what was going on from a 2021 Seattle radio talk show interview.

“An anonymous source called in and reported that men were transferring into the women’s prison in Purdy,” Downey explained.

“I followed up to figure out who the source was, and it was a prison guard who was able to go on the record because he was leaving the facility, and he introduced me to inmates in the facility, former and current and they shared their testimonies,” she said.

That initial lead inspired others to share their stories.

“It opened Pandora’s box from just that one connection and led me to so many different trails of badness that I felt had to be exposed,” Downey continued. “Female inmates started sharing with me what was happening to them because of the gender inclusive housing policies in Washington state.”

Per Monday’s National Review article, “Male inmate Jonathan, known as ‘Jazzy’ was accused of sexual assault in multiple complaints filed by female inmates. In one instance, a female inmate woke up in bed to find Jonathan ‘touching her all over.’ A mentally disabled female inmate was sexually abused by a male inmate who was incarcerated for raping a twelve-year-old girl and preferred to be called “Princess Zoee Marie Andromeda Love.”

Earlier this year, Downey uncovered that Bryan Kim, a male felon convicted in a double homicide, was caught having a prohibited sexual encounter with a female inmate.

She cited that as evidence many of the male inmates who identify as women are still genetically male.

“This male inmate who killed both his parents, was found having sex with a female inmate, and I saw the incident report in graphic detail,” Downey noted.

Downey said she continues to hear stories from female inmates about men being transferred to the facility.

“At least 11 men are at Purdy, and these are names I was able to solidify for sure,” she said.

The Center Square reached out to the Washington State Department of Corrections for a response to the allegations and received the following via email: “The National Review chooses to misgender these individuals. They are all transgender. DOC has established procedures to ensure equitable treatment of transgender, intersex, and/or gender non-binary individuals when conducting intake screening and determining housing, classification, programming and supervision.”

The spokesperson emailed a link to DOC’s policies on housing transgender individuals.

The DOC response continued: “Due to the intake screening process and evaluations that occur, the department makes every effort to ensure individuals are not placed in housing assignments where they would be a danger to others or where others would be a danger to them.”

The Center Square asked how DOC has responded to cases of assault involving transgender inmates.

“One individual, Amber Kim, was moved back to a men’s prison for safety and security reasons,” DOC’s email said. “Other investigations related to Prison Rape Elimination Act cases are confidential, but DOC takes all allegations of sexual assault seriously and follows PREA standards to ensure the humane treatment of all incarcerated individuals in our custody.”

Downey said the Purdy facility is not the only one where male prisoners have been transferred out of respect for “transgender rights” and proceeded to commit violence against female inmates.