Transgender Woman Sues in California After Cell Beating

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A transgender woman is suing the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department after she was placed in a jail cell with three men and beaten so badly that her jaw was broken, according to the lawsuit.

Kristina Frost was “viciously attacked” by one man who punched her repeatedly in the face in the attack last November at the Men’s Central Jail, required two surgeries and hasn’t fully recovered, according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month in federal court, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Moving Frost into a cell containing men appears to violate a Sheriff’s Department training bulletin issued in February that says “an arrestee should be taken to a facility that coincides with the arrestee’s gender identity,” the Union-Tribune reported.

The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit, the paper said.

Frost, whose California drivers license identifies her as a woman, was wearing women’s clothing when she was arrested, according to the lawsuit.

“Despite this, deputies repeatedly mis-gendered Ms. Frost, both in person and in official reports documenting the assault giving rise to this case,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit didn’t specify why Frost was arrested, but she was supposed to have been booked and released, meaning she was suspected of a minor crime, according to the lawsuit.

Instead, Frost was moved from a holding cell to another cell with three men inside, where she was beaten while at least one deputy saw the assault and failed to immediately stop it, the lawsuit alleged.

The attacker eventually was removed from the cell, but Frost spent more than 12 hours in custody without receiving medical attention, according to the lawsuit.

She was diagnosed with two jaw fractures after being released from jail, “continues to suffer from these injuries and must now wear dentures,” the lawsuit said.