Ex-inmate claims he was 'sex slave' to prison counselor

Article here. Excerpt:

'A former state prison inmate who fathered a child with a prison counselor while serving time in a Jackson-area prison is suing the Michigan Department of Corrections and state officials, saying he was forced into sex and officials should have known what was happening.

Steven Moerman of Grand Rapids alleges prison counselor Susan Lee Clingerman used him as "a virtual sex slave, demanding sexual gratification at her whim," while he was imprisoned at Parnall Correctional Facility on a drug charge in 2014 and receiving counseling for mental illness.

In a lawsuit filed in September in Jackson County Circuit Court, Moerman alleges prison officials knew or should have known what was happening because another prison counselor acted as a lookout for Clingerman.

The suit, which names Gov. Rick Snyder, the corrections department and current and former prison officials as defendants, alleges sexual assault, emotional distress and inadequate hiring, training and supervision, among other counts. It seeks unspecified damages.

"Defendants failed to provide Mr. Moerman humane conditions of confinement by knowingly, voluntarily, recklessly, and with willful disregard to Mr. Moerman's personal safety, allowing him to be sexually assaulted and raped," according to allegations in Moerman's lawsuit filed by Okemos attorney Sterlin Mesadieu.'