Two inmates at Montana State Prison have been charged with the kidnap and attempted rape of a correctional officer in the prison’s high security unit in June.
Michael Spell and Bradley Crisman are both charged with aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual intercourse without consent in Powell County District Court. Neither have entered pleas to the charges, but are expected to do so at their initial appearances Aug. 27.
The Electric, an online news site in Great Falls, first reported on the charges.
Crisman had already been imprisoned in 2012 on a 75-year sentence for sexually assaulting a real estate agent in Great Falls while posing as a potential home buyer. Spell is one of the two oil field workers involved in the highly publicized kidnapping and murder of Sidney teacher Sherry Arnold when she was jogging near her home in 2012. Spell was sentenced to 100 years in prison for his role in that case.
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According to charging documents, Crisman, 35, regularly spoke to other inmates about kidnapping and torturing women while working in the prison’s kitchen on the high-security housing side of the facility. Other inmates later told investigators Crisman had specifically spoken about a female correctional officer on their unit.
A system of multi-layer fencing and gates divides Montana State Prison into multiple housing areas from low-security to high-security.
Video of the inmates’ cell block captured events in the day room but provided only a limited view into their cells during the incident on June 8, according to charging documents.
Two correctional officers were checking doors on the cell block as the inmates were leaving to eat dinner. Spell and Crisman stayed behind, and Spell appeared to grab something from his cell, according to court records. Spell reportedly tried showing a female correctional officer the object, which is not described in court documents, and with Crisman pulled the officer into his cell when she approached.
The other correctional officers were “under a second” away from being able to enter Spell’s cell before they closed it behind him, according to prosecutors. He was seen on surveillance cameras calling for help and fighting to get the cell door open as other staff race over to assist them.
Spell at some point exited the cell and was hit with pepper spray from multiple directions before he was taken to the ground. The female correctional officer was in Spell’s cell for over a minute before other officers were able to remove her, according to court records. Crisman is seen on surveillance cameras being removed from the cell approximately a minute later.
In a report following the incident, the second correctional officer said he could see Crisman trying to remove the first correctional officer’s pants after the inmates had dragged her into the cell. Despite the officer’s attempts to open the door electronically, Spell was able to keep the door shut. Once Spell exited the cell and was in handcuffs, the arriving officers closed the door because they did not realize the female officer was still inside with Crisman, according to court documents.
In her written report, the female correctional officer said Crisman had told her he had a shank and threatened to stab her if she kept screaming for the other officers.
Both inmates agreed to be interviewed by Department of Corrections investigators and, according to court documents, both offered “incoherent” explanations for the incident. Crisman said he did push the correctional officer into Spell’s cell but only after Spell started pulling her into the cell. Spell reportedly told investigators he and another inmate planned to hold the officer hostage to get inmates “more rights.”
Both men admitted to smoking “spice,” a synthetic cannabinoid, in the days leading up to the incident, according to court records. A search of Crisman’s cell after the incident also turned up a notebook including detailed narratives about his desire to tie up and torture women, according to prosecutors.
Assistant Attorney General Patrick Moody, a deputized prosecutor for Powell County to handle prison cases, filed the charging documents against the two inmates July 25.
“The safety and security of the people who work for the DOC in our facilities and in Montana communities are of the utmost importance to the department,” Montana Department of Corrections spokesperson Carolynn Stocker said in a statement Thursday. “Any act of violence inflicted upon our staff members will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
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