A prisoner’s husband protested outside Grand Valley Institute for Women for a second day.
Jamie Rushton says prison staff has threatened to take away his wife’s visitation rights with him and with their six month old son if he continues.
Jamie says Joanne spoke to him from inside the jail and begged him not to come back.
“She was in tears for 15 minutes. The entire time begging me not to come out here.” Rushton says.
Joanna has been behind bars for three weeks. Rushton says she’s serving a two and a half year sentence for drug charges.
After allegations of sexual abuse at the prison surfaced, Jamie launched a protest Wednesday.
He says guards told Joanna if he came back today that they were going to deny their visitation rights.
Correctional Service of Canada says it can’t comment on the specifics but that “the lawful actions of private citizens outside an institution would not be used by CSC as grounds to deny visitation.”
A media relations officer told CTV News Joanna declined to speak to us by phone.
Earlier this week when CTV News spoke to Kim Pate, the head of the Elizabeth Fry Society, she says incidents like this are not unheard of. “Some women have ended up in situations where they’ve been vilified and have ended up transferred, higher security, put in isolation and those sorts of things.”
Grand Valley called in a complaint Wednesday about Rushton. But when Regional by-law officers checked both Wednesday and Thursday, they determined Rushton isn’t doing anything wrong.
“It’s no different from having a baby buggy or something else leaning against a tree. They’re not in the ground.” Phillip Neville of Region of Waterloo Bylaw says.
Trying to be mindful of the by-laws, Rushton says even if his actions make things harder for his wife on the inside, he’s committed and plans to keep coming back until there’s a solution.
