Sidney Starr has been moved into a vulnerable population unit inside the Fulton County Jail, according to TMZ, which first reported the placement.
A representative for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet that Starr “identified as someone who engages in a particular lifestyle” during the intake process, and that this is why she was placed in the unit, which the office described as housing for the LGBTQ community. The rep said her criminal charges had nothing to do with the decision, and that she is under no restrictions and has no additional security, even though people accused of crimes against children are typically targeted by other detainees.
Start with what the unit is, because a lot of people are reading this as solitary confinement and it is not. A vulnerable population unit is protective classification. It is separate housing for people the jail has screened and determined face an elevated risk of being assaulted by others in custody. People housed there generally keep their access to programs, privileges and visitation. Restrictive housing, which most people know as solitary, is a different thing entirely and is used for discipline or facility management, with isolation as the point.
The screening that lands someone there comes from the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law usually shortened to PREA that sets the standards jails and prisons have to follow to prevent sexual abuse in custody. Every person booked into a facility has to be assessed within 72 hours of arrival. The assessment looks at age, physical build, any history of incarceration, the nature of a person’s criminal history including sex offenses against children, disability status, and whether the person is perceived as gender nonconforming.
Being transgender is a recognized risk factor for sexual victimization behind bars, which is why the standards single it out. PREA requires that housing decisions for transgender detainees be made case by case rather than by blanket rule, that the person’s own view of their safety be given serious consideration, that the placement be reassessed at least twice a year, and that they be given the opportunity to shower separately.
Then comes the part that makes the Fulton County situation worth examining. PREA standard 115.42 says an agency shall not place lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people in dedicated facilities, units or wings solely on the basis of that identification or status, unless the unit was established in connection with a consent decree, legal settlement or legal judgment for the purpose of protecting them. The Justice Department has said placement counts as based solely on status whenever only LGBTQ people are eligible for the unit, and that it counts that way even if the person volunteered or asked to be moved there. The reasoning behind the rule is that separating people by identity, even with protective intent, can turn into its own form of discrimination and can quietly cut people off from what everyone else in the building gets.
The reason given for Starr’s placement, as the sheriff’s office described it, is the reason the standard restricts. Whether the Fulton County unit falls inside the exception depends on how the unit was created, and the sheriff’s office has not addressed that publicly. It is not a small question there. The jail entered a consent decree with the Justice Department in January 2025, following a federal investigation released in November 2024 that found excessive force by officers, failure to protect people from violence, medical and mental health care falling below constitutional standards, and restrictive housing practices the investigation called discriminatory.
The lack of extra security is the other half of it. A court monitor’s report found that most floors of the main jail were staffed by a single deputy or detention officer responsible for roughly 200 residents spread across six housing zones, with staff vacancy rates running near half on day shift and higher overnight. A vulnerable population unit only does what it is supposed to do if there is somebody watching it.
Starr, whose legal name is Sidney Favors, is being held without bond on charges of aggravated child molestation, sodomy and sexual battery against a child under 16, following her August 2 arrest at a hotel in Hapeville. Her next court appearance is set for August 25. She has denied the allegations in a statement given to TMZ, saying she intends to defend herself through the legal process and that allegations should not be mistaken for fact. No plea has been entered and the case sits with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
None of the housing classification speaks to guilt. It is a risk assessment about what could happen to her inside a building, made at intake, before any court has heard a word of the case.
