Some sociopaths eventually explode, killing multiple people and often taking their own lives, as happened in Santa Barbara. But there are others who live amongst us, Dexter-evil-twin-like, living out their horrible fantasies in settings where they are not just allowed, but sometimes encouraged to do so.
WARNING: READING THIS WILL NOT BE PLEASANT.
WARNING: THE ABOVE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
MIAMI, FL - A torturous "punishment" session turned fatal for a mentally-ill prisoner, when prison guards forced him to stand in a tiny shower stall while being blasted by scalding hot water until his skin began to shrivel away from his body and he died. Fellow inmates say he begged for his life before collapsing in the shower.
What dark demons possess those who could do such a thing? What twisted mental paths allow someone to do this, walk off their job at quitting time, have a beer with a friend, go home to their spouse and kids, and sleep through the night?
It all sounds like a horror film, but, tragically, insanely,it is all too real.
Darren Rainey, 50, died while incarcerated... He was serving a 2-year sentence for a victimless crime; possession of cocaine... he had only one month to go before his release.
Rainey, who suffered from mental illness, was accused of defecating in his cell without cleaning it up. The Florida Department of Corrections often comes up with cruel and imaginative punishments for prisoners - allegedly ranging from starvation diets to forcing prisoners to fight so the guards could place bets.
Rainey's punishment was to stand confined in a narrow chamber, being blasted with hot water and steam...
"I can't take it no more, I'm sorry. I won't do it again," Rainey screamed over and over...
When Rainey's body was found, his skin was cooked to the point where it was coming loose from his body, a condition known as slippage.
You don't want to hear it. I don't want to tell it. In fact, I wasn't sure I could write this up. Yet the stories keep coming, and nobody in authority (sociopaths themselves?) seems to have any interest, nay, any sense of moral obligation or outrage, to do anything about it.
People are kept in solitary confinement for twenty or more years. The mentally ill are being tortured. People are being baked alive. A woman is put into a solitary cell, screaming as she gives birth to a child alone, watching the child die.
These images are what we think of when we conjure up our worst nightmares of medieval horror, yet they are happening here and now - on a daily basis.
Those in power are perfectly happy with this. Another inmate, before committing suicide, wrote
"I'm in a mental health facility...I'm supposed to be getting help for my depression, suicidal tendencies and I was sexually assaulted." He then goes on to allege that guards forced inmates in the unit to perform sex acts and threatened them if they filed complaints.
He said guards - identified by name in the note - gambled on duty, sold marijuana and cigarettes, and stole money and property belonging to inmates. "If they didn’t like you, they put you on a starvation diet," he wrote.
He also alleged that guards encouraged racial hatred by forcing white and black inmates to fight each other in the yard, claiming that the guards would place bets on who would win.
The entire hierarchy knows what is going on. No one with responsibility will take responsibility.
The six-page inspector general's investigation into Rainey's death was completed in October 2012. DOC Inspector General Jeffrey Beasley closed the case, concluding there was not enough information to issue any finding.
We elect people who don't care, who appoint people who don't care, who hire people who don't care, who look the other way while supervising people who perpetuate the madness.
The few of us that care shake heads and mumble "What can we do?" Indeed, when stories of torture so vile that they should have people throwing up as they read them fail to produce even indigestion, well, what can be done?