At the end of 2001, about 83,000 state prison inmates, or about 6.8 percent, were male sex offenders who had committed a rape or sexual assault against a minor under age 18, according to Allen Beck, chief of corrections statistics for the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. That potentially could mean a lot of inmates at risk. "In some places he may even get his throat cut." If they do talk, "they'll get beat up," Lewis added. "There's a lot of that can successfully make it … as long as they don't brag about their offense." Ken Lewis, a corrections officer and spokesman at California's Los Angeles County State Prison. "Once their crime has become known, they usually don't make it" without protective custody, said Lt. Such offenders, including Geoghan, often are placed into protective custody with other prisoners seen to be under a threat. Though prison officials in some Northeastern states question the idea of an automatic social hierarchy among prisoners based solely upon their offenses, most agree that if there is one, child molesters and informants - derided as "snitches" - occupy the lowest rungs. In fact, Goeghan's accused killer, Joseph Druce, "looked upon Father Geoghan as a prize," and plotted his killing for a month, John Conte, district attorney for Worcester County, Mass., told reporters Monday. "Taking out would gain a lot more respect among the other inmates." "If you take out a sex offender like this former priest in Massachusetts, maybe the person who took him out thought he'd make a name of himself," said Margot Bach, a spokeswoman for California Department of Corrections.
Prison can be a menacing place for child molesters like the former Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan, who was killed in his cell Saturday - or for other alleged pedophile priests working their way through the criminal justice system. 26, 2003 — - In prison, fellow inmates derisively call pedophiles "chesters," "tree jumpers" and "short eyes."
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