Amanda's Story

Allie's Story

Marion County sheriff’s detectives are asking any other potential child molestation victims to come forward.

Marion County Sheriff's Office detectives believe a 34-year-old man arrested Wednesday on child molestation charges may have abused other children as well and are urging any victims to contact them.

The suspect, Lt. Keith Mitchell Turner, was one of four Lowell Correctional Institution corrections officers accused by lawyers in the Aug. 21 beating of an inmate that left her paralyzed.

That incident is still under investigation, but following the arrest, Turner is losing his job with the Florida Department of Corrections.

"The Sheriff's findings in this case against Mr. Turner are abhorrent and in complete contrast to the values and integrity held by our staff," Secretary Mark S. Inch said in a statement issued Thursday. "We are moving forward with his immediate dismissal."

Turner had been employed by FDOC since 2004, except for a voluntary separation of 11 months in 2006 and 2007.

In the child molestation case, Turner is charged with sexual battery, lewd or lascivious exhibition, and two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation.

On Aug. 8, detectives said they received a report concerning sexual abuse after a girl told a family member about repeated abuse over several years that began around 2012, according to Turner's arrest report. The child was 6 to 8 when the abuse allegedly began.

While investigating the case, detectives learned of second girl he may have sexually molested.

They contacted the second person and confirmed that Turner had committed crimes of a sexual nature against that child, the report says.

Turner was being held in the Marion County Jail Thursday without bond.

During their investigation, Sheriff's Office officials came to believe there may be more victims.

As for the Lowell incident, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the alleged abuse in which 51-year-old inmate Cheryl Weimar was severely injured. She and her husband have filed a lawsuit in the case.

The amended complaint cites "Turner's violent, threatening, and abusive conduct towards women based on dozens of inmate complaints against him" in describing him as a "risk to female inmates at Lowell CI."

"I'm just speechless," said John Vernaglia, an attorney with the Andrews Law Firm in Tallahassee, which filed the lawsuit.

"It's a very sad day, he said in a written statement. "Our thoughts are with the child victims as they seek to heal from this tragedy. I hope there is as much support for these victims as there has been for our client."

"I'm saddened that innocent children had to endure the abuses this monster inflicted, and I'm most happy with an arrest," said Debra Bennett, a former Lowell inmate who has organized protests in support of Weimar. She hopes Turner and the other corrections officers are arrested over Weimar's case.

Vernaglia said Thursday that Weimar — who was hospitalized for a time — is at an FDOC reception center in Lowell. Although Weimar is doing a lot better, he said, she is still "in a lot of pain." He is hoping to move her to another facility so her condition can improve.

Under Florida law, mug shots of law enforcement officials can be exempt from public records. This case, however, involves an exception, MCSO spokesman Sgt. Paul Bloom said.

"The need to find other victims and protect other victims outweighs any protection he's afforded," Bloom said.

Anyone with information on possible child abuse is urged contact Detective Ian Simpson at (352)3683586.

He has 100 plus pages of complaints of sexual abuse, physical abuse and on and on since 2010 and still he was promoted within Lowell.

Marshana's Story

Dia's Story

Dia spent 21 years in the Florida prison system.

Silent No More!

The first silent protest a Lowell 3 weeks ago.

One of the banners for protest No. 2 at Lowell on Oct 19.  Many more women

have joined.  This was started by former inmate Deborah Bennett who spent over 20 years

at Lowell for having  oxy's.

Rose's Story

Rose was incarcerated at Lowell in Ocala.

Left a Quadriplegic Due to Beating by Guards

Quadriplegic inmate paralyzed in beating sues state Corrections department over injuries

A lawyer for a female inmate who was brutally beaten by staff at Lowell Correctional Institution and is now a quadriplegic is asking a federal judge to intervene so they can document the extent of her injuries in her pending lawsuit against the state.

Cheryl Weimar, 51, who has a history of mental illness and physical disabilities, is being cared for in a hospital in Ocala, near Lowell, the state's main prison for women and the largest women's prison in the nation.

The Department of Corrections has refused to let Tallahassee lawyer Ryan Andrews or his team take photos of Weimar since the Aug. 21 attack, first reported by the Miami Herald. 

“We’re allowed to see her but not photograph her,” Andrews said. “If she was in prison we would need a court order to take photos but she’s in a hospital. What is the security risk?” 

Andrews filed an emergency motion this morning with U.S. Judge Mark Walker in the Northern District of Florida seeking permission to take photos and videos of Weimar’s injuries. He noted that English television personality Piers Morgan was recently allowed in Lowell to interview inmates for a documentary on female killers.

"The hypocrisy of preventing access to document my client's condition with pictures and videotapes, is especially apparent when Piers Morgan was able to enter Lowell CI to film a Netflix special that fetishizes women killers, but pictures of my client who was brutally beaten by (FDC) employees is not permitted," Ryan said.

An investigation into the beating is under way with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as lead investigative agency and help from the FDC Office of Inspector General, spokeswoman Michelle Glady said. 

“We recognize that preliminary reports from this incident are concerning. We’re committed to examining all the details regarding this situation and ensuring appropriate action is taken,” FDC Secretary Mark Inch said.

Meanwhile, Glady said, the officers involved "have been reassigned to posts that do not have contact with inmates, pending the outcome of this investigation."

Information related to the incident is limited while the investigation is ongoing, she said.

"When the investigation is complete, the report will be made available to the public," Glady added.

As far as the lawsuit goes, the FDC hadn't been served yet and couldn't comment on pending litigation, Glady said.

Cheryl Weimar (Photo: Florida Department of Corrections)

In the lawsuit filed by Andrews Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of Florida, the Aug. 21 attack on Weimar was graphically described: Four guards beat her within an inch of her life and broke her neck.

“She is now a quadriplegic because of the Defendants’ excessive use of force,” the lawsuit said. 

Her injuries are so extensive she can’t talk or move, Andrews told the Democrat. He had to resort to communicating with her via the alphabet because of a tracheostomy tube.

They are seeking damages that her civil rights were violated under the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The lawsuit also names Karl Weimer, Cheryl’s husband. He brings a claim for loss of consortium.

Cheryl Weimar has been an inmate since January 21, 2016, and was due to be released Feb. 9, 2021. She was convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to six years, 8 months and 28 days .

Weimar complained that she couldn’t perform her task assignment to clean toilets because she had a hip condition well documented by prison officials, and declared a medical emergency. Prison policy requires staff to call medical personnel once an inmate declares a medical emergency.

Instead, one of the guards got angry with her and a confrontation followed, the lawsuit said.

The confrontation escalated, and Weimar declared an "inmate psychological emergency," the lawsuit said. One or more officers slammed Weimar to the ground, beat her with blows to her head, neck and back, the complaint said.

After they beat her, the defendants dragged her “like a rag doll to a nearby wheelchair, allowing her head to bounce along the ground along the way,” the complaint said.

The complaint alleges the four officers dragged her outside the compound where they continued to beat her in an area not covered by surveillance cameras.

Besides breathing through a tracheostomy tube, Weimar is being fed through a PEG tube, and will likely require around-the-clock medical care for the rest of her life, the complaint said.

“This malicious and sadistic beating of the defenseless plaintiff… caused Cheryl Weimar to suffer life-threatening and permanent injuries,” the complaint said.

Evie's Story

Evie was incarcerated at Lowell C. I in Ocala, Florida.  She went in at 16 as a youthful offender but was charged as an adult.  

Update on Sadie

Hi everyone!

Sorry this update has taken so long but was busy advocating for my daughter and prison reform.

Last October Sadie got moved to Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, FL.  This is a private prison and what a difference!  She got booted from Lowell because I was a pest : ).  Thank goodness.  Gadsden has tons of programs, an excellent rec program with a track.  Barbecues every once in awhile for the women.  Sadie has never seen anyone pepper sprayed or excessive use of force.  Guards are still guards-no respect for other human beings but this prison is light years ahead of Lowell.

It took awhile for Sadie to adjust because she was so institutionalized at Lowell and paranoid all the time.

She is in the service dog training program and teaches yoga.  I NEVER worry about her at Gadsden.  I can finally relax and sleep at night.

But things are getting worse at Lowell.  4 guards just broke a woman's neck and she is paralyzed from the neck down.  She was a disabled 51 year old woman.  She now has a lawyer.  The guards have, as of yet, not been charged.  We'll see.  Former inmates and families did a silent protest outside of Lowell a couple of weeks ago and another is planned.  They were on the news.

Lots is happening.  Lot of the abuse is being talked about in news articles and several representatives and some senators are pushing for criminal justice reform.  Baby steps.

Criminal justice reform is happening all around the country because the way we treat our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated is inhumane and unconscionable and as a nation and humans we should be better than that.

Me

Sadie and her dog Kiri