The shocking story of Fleece Johnson, known as the “Booty Warrior,” is a cautionary tale that may deter some kids from criminal behavior. Johnson has been an inmate at Kentucky State Penitentiary since 1979 and by all accounts he was a terror to his fellow inmates. During a segment on the TV show “Lockup,” Johnson shared how he would pick out and rape fellow prisoners.
One of his favorite targets was young inmates with sagging pants. Johnson explained that these young prisoners’ pants sagging may be a sign of being a true hard gangster thug; but to him and some fellow inmates it looked sexy. With a look of glee on his face, he stated that he would go to these inmates and say, “Look here. I like ya. I want ya and we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Some inmates submitted to his threats and the ones that fought back were brutally raped. The hit TV show “The Boondocks” did a segment where children were put in a “Scared Straight” type program with a Fleece Johnson caricature. Even though the episode was questionably funny, it is important for parents to tell kids about the “Booty Warrior” and the reality of prison rape.
According to Bureau of Justice statistics, approximately 80,000 men and women are raped in prison each year, of which 81.9 percent are male victims. This high number of inmate assaults led to President George W. Bush signing the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. The law requires the Bureau of Justice to carry out “each calendar year, a comprehensive review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape.” This review is done by a random sample of no less than 10 percent of all prisons and a representative sample of municipal prisons.
Often times when a male inmate is raped, they are ambushed and “choked out” first. When the inmate regains consciousness, he is being sodomized by one or more prisoners. It’s a story that has been documented and told many times and has been called “America’s most open secret.” Soon, a prisoner who is raped once may find himself traded to other prisoners for cigarettes or other contraband. Despite the horror and anguish of male prison rape, it has been the subject of jokes and thoughts of a suitable punishment for sexual predators. Even former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle has been the subject of social media jokes and memes, including a New York Post cover page:
The “Booty Warrior” is real and even though Fleece Johnson is set to be released in the next 24 hours, rest assured another “Booty Warrior” is set to take his place.
