A transgender inmate incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women has been transferred to another facility after impregnating two women.
According to Dan Sperrazza, a Department of Corrections spokesman, Demi Minor, 27, was transferred to Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Burlington County last month.
Minor has been moved to the vulnerable unit at the facility, and she is the only female prisoner on site. Sperrazza could not comment on the DOC’s specific housing actions in Minor’s case due to privacy concerns.
According to the correctional department, Minor is currently serving a 30-year term for manslaughter and will be available for release in 2037.
In an online posting on July 5, Minor claims corrections officers forcibly removed her from Edna Mahan and beat her during the transfer.
“NJDOC cannot comment on any active investigations,” a statement read. “The Department has zero tolerance for abuse, and the safety and security of the incarcerated population and staff are of critical importance.”
The transfer of Minor comes almost three months after NJ Advance Media reported that Minor had “consensual sexual relationships” with two women that resulted in their pregnancies.
State corrections officials came under fire after the disclosure since they have been dealing with claims that officers have abused and taken advantage of prisoners sexually for the past decade.
It also brought attention to New Jersey’s transgender inmate policy, which was put in place as a result of a June 2021 settlement with the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
According to the guideline, the DOC must put transgender inmates in facilities that reflect their gender identity. According to the settlement agreement, the policy must be in place for at least a year. The year came to an end last month.
Sperrazza said the DOC continues to operate under the policy agreed upon with the ACLU but added that “the department is currently reviewing the policy for housing transgender incarcerated persons with the intention of implementing minor modifications.”
He said decisions related to an incarcerated person’s housing, like Minor’s, “are made within the parameters of the settlement agreement which requires consideration of gender identity and the health and safety of the individual.”
