Cascade County hires prison rape investigator

The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office has hired a full-time deputy to investigate allegations of sexual assault, misconduct and harassment at the regional jail in Great Falls as part of a national initiative to curb assaults behind bars.

Previously, a detective had handled the job part time, in addition to other duties, but it became too much after complaints increased once the office began stepping up educational efforts for inmates and employees to comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003, Sheriff Bob Edwards said.