CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Over the past two weeks, eight women have filed lawsuits in Kanawha Circuit Court alleging that they were sexually abused and harassed while prisoners in West Virginia jails or prisons.

The suits, all filed by lawyers Mike and Matthew Woelfel of Huntington, allege a widespread pattern of sexual misconduct by male guards, particularly at the Southern Regional Jail and Beckley Correctional Center in Raleigh County and Lakin Correctional Center in Mason County.

The suits, filed between Oct. 19 and 29, all name either the state Regional Jail Authority or the state Division of Corrections as defendants, as well as various individual guards, some identified only as John Doe.

"Since the opening of the Southern Regional Jail, there has existed a continuing practice and pattern of sexual misconduct visited upon inmates at the hands of correctional officers. This practice could not continue to occur without the tacit approval of supervisory staff of the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority," one suit reads. "A conspiracy to conceal such sexual misconduct is ongoing and involves Southern Regional Jail personnel."

Other lawsuits use almost identical language to describe allegations of sexual abuse and cover-ups at South Central Regional Jail and the DOC facilities at Lakin and Beckley.

"It would be unfair for me to generalize and make blanket statements, because you have different agencies involved here," Mike Woelfel said Monday. "For example, we've found that some of the regional jails are very well run from top to bottom. [But] we think that some of the other regional jails have allowed pervasive sexual abuse to occur over a number of years."

Calls to lawyers representing various defendants, including the Regional Jail Authority and the Division of Corrections, were not returned Monday.

Woelfel & Woelfel has other similar suits pending, and expects to file more as more women come forward, Mike Woelfel said. Some women may be afraid to accuse their jailers because they are still under their authority, he said.

"It's my impression that sexual misconduct in the jail setting is just as underreported statistically as sexual misconduct in the general population," he said.

A culture of sexual impropriety in jails and prisons exists in pockets throughout the state, he said.

Woelfel pointed to the recent firing of Regional Jail Authority Director Terry Miller amid accusations of sexual harassment of female employees as an indication that there may be a larger problem within the agency.

"It would be unfair of me to paint all supervisory personnel or top level personnel with the same brush; however, the recent firing of the head of the Jail Authority raises system wide concerns," he said. "When you have allegations of sexual misconduct at the top, and you have allegations of sexual misconduct that I'm well aware of on the front lines, there's no oversight."

Larissa Brinegar Coburn, Brittany Light and Veronica Price have filed suits against the Regional Jail Authority, while Joni Bragg, Lanequa Johnson, Brandi Meade, Rita Pritt and Stacy Ratliff have filed separate suits against the DOC.

According to the lawsuits, corrections officers conspire together to hide the alleged sexual misconduct so that they can avoid prosecution on state and federal charges. Some officers acted as lookouts while others abused and harassed the female inmates, some of the suits allege.

The suits also allege that the state agencies failed to supervise and train the corrections officers.

"These lawsuits will prove that tacit approval occurs by supervisory personnel," Mike Woelfel said.

The suits seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.