Five months after an openly gay detainee at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia was brutally assaulted, no criminal charges have been filed against his alleged assailants.
On Nov. 10, Kenneth J. Houck Jr. was reading a gay novel inside his cell when two males entered, pulled him by his legs from the top bunk bed, then stomped on him and beat him with a chair.
The tibia and fibula bones in Houck’s right leg were fractured during the assault, requiring the installation of a metal rod from his ankle to his knee for stabilization.
At the time of the incident, Houck was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of transporting child pornography, according to court records.
Houck told PGN he doesn’t know the names of his assailants, but he identified them through a photo display shown to him by detention-center officials.
In Houck’s opinion, he’s the victim of an anti-LGBT hate crime.
“I want all involved punished for the hate crime — to give them a reason to not let their homophobic aggression be taken out on anyone else ever again,” the prisoner said.
Houck also expressed remorse for his own crime — which involved downloading child porn, then sharing it with an undercover federal agent through a computer file-sharing network.
Houck’s criminal activity took place between November 2010 and February 2011, according to court records.
Houck was living in South Philadelphia at the time, and the undercover agent was located in Delaware.
In February, U.S. District Judge Gregory M. Sleet sentenced Houck to 97 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.
Houck also must register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction where he lives, works or goes to school — for the remainder of his life.
Houck’s projected release date is March 3, 2018, if he doesn’t commit any infractions while in custody.
Houck said his victimization at the detention center has sensitized him to the exploitation and harm caused by the child-porn industry.
“My collecting [porn] was showing my support of the industry,” he said. “I’m sorry for the people that are affected by the child porn I collected when [children] were used in the making of it.”
Houck said the nature of his criminal indictment became general knowledge at the detention center, though he’s not certain how the information was obtained.
His assailants referred to him as a “chomo,” which is prison slang for a child molester, Houck said.
They also referred to him as a “faggot,” “homo” and “pussy,” he said.
Houck said he fell about 5 feet onto a cement floor before his assailants beat him.
“When they pulled me out of my bunk, I landed on the cement floor. It was about a 5-foot drop. Then they stomped on me, kicked me and beat me with a chair.”
The assailants ran out of Houck’s cell before a correctional officer arrived, alerted by Houck’s screams.
Houck was transported by ambulance to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he spent 18 days in the critical-care unit during the initial phase of his recovery.
“It was very hard going,” he said. “I didn’t return [to the detention center] for almost two months.”
Months after his return, Houck still couldn’t walk without crutches.
David Cooper, an advocate for Houck, questioned why criminal charges haven’t been filed against Houck’s alleged assailants.
“Everyone knows a crime was committed,” Cooper told PGN. “So when is it going to be adjudicated?”
Cooper said prosecuting Houck’s assailants would promote respect for the law.
“It doesn’t matter where a crime takes place,” Cooper continued. “A crime is a crime, and should be treated as such. The location is irrelevant. A crime committed in a prison doesn’t make it any less of a crime.”
Houck’s father, Kenneth J. Houck Sr., also expressed hope that the alleged assailants will be prosecuted. ”It wasn’t their place to judge my son,” he said.
Patricia Hartman, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, had no comment on whether Houck’s alleged assailants would face criminal charges.
“We typically do not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation,” Hartman told PGN.
Chris Burke, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said he couldn’t comment on specific cases.
But Burke noted that even if inmates aren’t indicted for crimes they commit while in federal custody, they still can face administrative sanctions.
Generally speaking, he said, administrative sanctions range anywhere from extended solitary confinement to loss of commissary privileges to forfeiture of the right to hold a prison job.
Also, the privilege of early release due to good behavior can be revoked, he said.
The Pennsylvania State Police collects data on hate crimes in the state that are motivated by bias due to the victim’s sexual orientation, among other categories.
The PSP website lists only one hate crime in Philadelphia in November 2011: an “anti-black” hate crime committed at a private residence.
Burke had no information on whether BOP officials reported Houck’s assault to authorities as a hate crime.
Burke also said BOP administrative guidelines don’t specifically recommend enhanced sanctions for offenses motivated by anti-LGBT bias.
“When imposing disciplinary sanctions, our staff considers the totality of the situation, which in many cases includes the motivation of the inmate, and will then sanction accordingly,” Burke said.
Houck said all of his personal belongings were stolen from his cell, which he discovered when he returned to the detention center after his hospitalization.
Burke couldn’t comment specifically on that allegation, but noted that legal recourse is available to any inmate who alleges theft of personal property.
Houck’s father said his son’s leg became badly infected after he returned to the detention center, because he allegedly wasn’t given proper antibiotics as part of his after-care.
Burke, the BOP spokesperson, said he couldn’t comment on type of medical treatment Houck received after he returned to the detention center, due to privacy rules.
Houck’s father also faulted BOP officials for not releasing information about his son’s condition for almost two months after he was assaulted.
“We didn’t know whether he was dead or alive,” he said.
Burke said information about a detainee’s condition and location after an assault is kept confidential for security purposes.
Houck said he wants to receive extensive psychological counseling while serving his time.
He said the abrupt ending of an eight-year relationship sent him into a downward spiral of pornography and drug addiction, culminating in his arrest.
“I know I need help,” he said. “I’m a huge drug addict — crack cocaine, heroin, ecstasy. I have a lot to work on.”
He’s grateful that he’s been transferred to the Federal Detention Center in Butner, N.C., which has effective treatment programs for inmates addicted to drugs and pornography, he said.