The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall ensure that the following procedures are performed in the investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse incidents:
(a) The provision of safe housing options, medical care, and the like shall not be contingent upon the victim’s willingness to press charges.
(b) Investigations into allegations of sexual abuse shall include, when deemed appropriate by the investigating agency, the use of forensic rape kits, questioning of suspects and witnesses, and gathering of other relevant evidence.
(c) Physical and testimonial evidence shall be carefully preserved for use in any future proceedings.
(d) Staff attitudes that inmates and wards cannot provide reliable information shall be discouraged.
(e) If an investigation confirms that any employee has sexually abused an inmate or ward, that employee shall be terminated. Administrators shall report criminal sexual abuse by staff to law enforcement authorities.
(f) Consensual sodomy and oral copulation among inmates is prohibited by subdivision (e) of Section 286 and subdivision (e) of Section 287 or former Section 288a, respectively. Without repealing those provisions, the increased scrutiny provided by this article shall apply only to nonconsensual sexual contact among inmates and custodial sexual misconduct.
(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 423, Sec. 102. (SB 1494) Effective January 1, 2019.)
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