The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Miranda Barbour due to a horrifying pattern of relentless sexual assault, harassment, and stalking against her by a parole agent Kenneth Jones, while Ms. Barbour was incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy (“SCI Muncy”). The lawsuit also details numerous times where security and other staff at SCI Muncy failed to intervene or take action to protect Ms. Barbour from the sexual abuse.
“A lot of the staff at SCI Muncy think sexual abuse is a joke,” said Ms. Barbour. “In the past, I’ve been afraid to say anything when I’ve been hurt. I kept quiet as a mouse. But I realized that nothing will ever change if I don’t say something and I will never be safe. So I’m filing this lawsuit to hold the staff at Muncy accountable and to try to make it a safer place for everyone.”
Jones has been criminally charged with twenty counts of institutional sexual assault, and admits to multiple instances of institutional sexual assault. For several months during 2023, Jones sexually assaulted Ms. Barbour in his office at SCI Muncy on a near daily basis, with his office door open while other staff members were nearby.
No area of Ms. Barbour’s life was safe from Jones. As she describes in the lawsuit, Jones illegally accessed Ms. Barbour’s confidential records, including sensitive medical and mental health information. He then used this confidential information to manipulate and intimidate her, convincing her that reporting the abuse would be futile as no one would believe her.
Despite her fears, Ms. Barbour tried to draw the attention of DOC staff members to Jones’ behavior. The Department of Corrections (DOC) is required to comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), a federal law directed at eliminating sexual abuse and harassment in correctional facilities. Ms. Barbour’s efforts were to no avail. Even after Ms. Barbour requested a transfer to separate herself from her abuser, Jones was able to continue stalking and harassing her for several additional months.
“This case brings into sharp focus the often willful blindness of those tasked with protecting people like Ms. Barbour,” said Evangeline Wright, staff attorney with the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. “Abuse doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Jones’ ability to brutalize and manipulate Ms. Barbour for over a year could have only occurred with the tacit consent of all those around Jones who chose to look the other way.”
Ms. Barbour is represented by Evangeline Wright of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project in the case Barber v. Jones, et al., 1:25-cv-00379, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Read a full copy of the complaint here (linked to case page).
About the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP)
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) protects and advances the constitutional and civil rights of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania through litigation, advocacy, and legal advice.