Prison of Secrets (TV Movie 1997)

Prison of Secrets: Directed by Fred Gerber. With Stephanie Zimbalist, Finola Hughes, Gary Frank, Rusty Schwimmer. A wife and mother is sent to prison for a monetary crime. Against the advice of her husband, she tries to raise awareness of the corruption going on there.

“(There are Spoilers) Trying to save her boss money, that she pocketed, in eliminating the middle-man in buying office equipment landed Lynn Schaffer, Stephanie Zimberlist, in a womens correctional facility for a ten year stretch. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTrying to adjust to prison life Lynn soon begins to realize that the prison is not a correction facility but a prostitution ring, used by the prison guards. The guards farm the women prisoners out to local motels as hookers and keep the women in line by getting them , if their not already, hooked on drugs that are supplied to them by the prison guards themselves. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe corrupt guards headed by the smirking and sleazy Sgt. Crang, Dan Lauria, also have their way with the women prisoners at the facility by constantly raping them. In a number of cases getting the women pregnant and having the fetus aborted by giving them drugs that cause a miscarriage to hide the evidence. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLynn seeing all this and also being a victim of Crangu0026#39;s sick sexual groupings in one case within sight of her husband Larry and 10 year-old daughter Karen, Gary Franks u0026amp; Stephanie Sawyer, turned her into a curseder for womens rights in prison but at the cost of her as well as little Karenu0026#39;s,who was threatened with death by Sgt. Crang u0026amp; Co., safety. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNot as brutal and graphic as most u0026quot;women in prisonu0026quot; movies u0026quot;Prison of Secretsu0026quot; has the fact that itu0026#39;s based on a true story that resulted in the shake-up of a womens correctional facility where 20 male guards ended up getting fired and two convicted for sexual abuse of the women prisoners. It wasnu0026#39;t easy for Lynn to get her fellow women prisoners to go along with her in signing affidavits accusing Sgt. Crang of abusing them. Most of the women not wanting to rock the boat and end up in even worse condition that they already were in.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was Lynnu0026#39;s dogged determination and courage, by putting her health and life on the line, in her fight for them that turned the women around and tuned the tables on Sgt. Crang and his fellow corrupt prison guards in the end. Crang doing all he can to keep Lynn quiet, even threatening to murder her daughter, made her even more determined to get the truth out. With the help of her husband Larry, whou0026#39;s a talk-show host, Lynn made waves as far and as high as to the states woman Senator Green, Anita Finlay,who came to the correction facility with a task force to find out what was happening there and how the prisoners were being treated. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSgt. Crang pulling out all stops has Lynn thrown into isolation and replaces her with another women prisoner Angie ,Fionla Houghes, whou0026#39;s been turning tricks to impersonate her as a last ditch effort to cover his, and is fellow prison guards, a**es.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll of Crangu0026#39;s efforts fall apart when Lynn escapes from her confinement and together with a handful of affidavitu0026#39;s that she hid in her bunk, from the women who were abused and exploited by him. Lynn gets to Senator Green just before sheu0026#39;s ushered out of the prison by a nervous Sgt. Crang and his boss, the simple-minded and totally out of touch top prison administrator, Warden Stewert.”