WASHINGTON – It was a case of mistaken gender, police said.
But that mistake is going to cost three Washington, D.C., corrections officials their jobs, according to The Washington Post.
Virginia Grace Soto, 47, was arrested July 14 and jailed with male inmates. She repeatedly told police that she was a woman, but her jailers did not believe her. One jail inmate, whose job it was to issue clothes, even told jail officials that Soto appeared to be a woman, but to no avail.
• Click here to read the story in The Washington Post.
Only after two days in a solitary holding cell for males, showering with male inmates and a medical examination did officials determine that Soto was a woman.
Reports uncovered by the newspaper describe the woman as 5-foot-3, weighing 130 pounds and having a "slight build." The report also described her as "androgynous in nature."
On April 28, Soto was arrested on suspicion of prostitution but told her arresting officers she is a woman. But members of the city's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit interviewed her and classified her as a man. She also had been arrested twice since then and classified as a man. She was released and failed to appear for a later court date. Her July arrest was for unrelated drug charges.
The report said Soto came into contact with nine officials through her detention but has not filed a complaint and at the moment cannot be located. She was interviewed, however, for the internal department report.
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