A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former inmate who alleged he was kept as a "virtual sex slave” by a prison counselor, with whom he fathered a child.
U.S District Judge Robert Cleland, who issued a judgment in the case Thursday, said the state can’t be sued over some of former inmate Steven Moerman’s claims because it enjoys governmental immunity. Cleland said Moerman's other claims are too vague to send to trial.
Moerman’s lawsuit “is devoid of anything but unsupported allegations that the state defendants’ practices and policies caused his harm,” wrote Cleland, whose federal courtroom is in Port Huron.
“But he leaves the court and the state defendants to guess just which practices and policies, and to fill in the blanks as to how they caused his abuse.”
Steven Moerman (Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections)
Cleland noted in his ruling that Moerman, 45, and former prison counselor Susan Lee Clingerman — who became pregnant with Moerman’s child in 2014 while he was still in prison — got married after Moerman’s release. It's not clear from the court record when the marriage took place or whether the couple has since divorced.
In September 2014, an officer at Parnall Correctional Facility near Jackson caught Clingerman and Moerman having sex in her office, according to prison records filed as exhibits with an earlier lawsuit Moerman filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, which made similar claims and was dismissed early in 2017.
Corrections Officer Timothy Hampton told the Michigan State Police he looked through the glass door of Clingerman's office and saw her bent over a chair. When he walked into the office, he saw Clingerman jump up and pull her skirt down and Moerman pull his pants up, according to a police report.
Clingerman, 46, was fired and charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct, but she instead pleaded guilty to a felony charge of misconduct in office, which kept her off the sex offender registry, record show. A Jackson County judge sentenced her to 27 days in jail and 18 months' probation.
Susan Lee Clingerman (Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections)
Under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, a prisoner is inherently unable to consent to sex with a prison employee, such as a counselor, because of the imbalance of power between them.
In his federal lawsuit, filed in September 2017, Moerman alleged he suffers from mental illness and "continues to suffer injuries from being the victim of an inherently coercive sexual relationship ... while in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections."
"After repeated sexual contacts and defendant Susan Clingerman desperately wishing to conceive a child, she intentionally targeted Mr. Moerman and began fertility treatment," the lawsuit alleged.
The suit named the Corrections Department, Gov. Rick Snyder, prison officials, and Clingerman, alleging rape and violation of Moerman's constitutional rights.
Clingerman denied in a 2016 interview with the Free Press that she kept Moerman — whom she sued for child support — as a sex slave.
She said she understands how the law views what happened, but that she and Moerman have "shared responsibility" for what happened.
"If we were two people working in the workforce and we had this type of relationship, you wouldn't think twice," she said.
Clingerman denied she wanted to have a child and used fertility treatment. She said Moerman — prior to their marriage — violated his parole by continuing to contact her after his 2017 release.
An attorney for Moerman could not immediately be reached.
A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections had no immediate comment.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.
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