A repeat offender with a long record of violent assaults has been transferred into Minnesota’s only women’s prison, where he has already been accused of threatening and attacking female inmates. Nathan Trevon Jones, 24, who calls himself “Natalia,” has six criminal cases on record in just four years, including multiple felonies for domestic assault. Despite this history, he was moved to MCF Shakopee, raising alarms about women’s safety behind bars.
Court documents show Jones’ history of brutal attacks, including a 2023 assault in which he and an accomplice beat and stomped a woman at a Minneapolis bus stop, leaving her with injuries requiring stitches. Even after multiple convictions and probation violations, Jones repeatedly avoided serious prison time, only to reoffend. One victim said he stalked and threatened her with a gun-shaped lighter after calling her slurs. This leniency directly paved the way for his placement in the women’s facility.
Women inside Shakopee are now sounding the alarm. Inmate TaNeishia Bernhardt reported that Jones assaulted an inmate and threatened her life after she confronted him. She described living in fear, saying the women now face the very abuse they thought prison walls would protect them from. Despite reports being filed, inmates claim authorities have taken little action to safeguard them.
Jones is not the only violent male placed in Shakopee. Other inmates include convicted child sex abusers and murderers who claim a transgender identity. Reports describe incidents ranging from sexual harassment and indecent exposure to threats against female prisoners and their families. Women have described feeling “violated” in showers and classrooms as they are forced to share space with male offenders.
These transfers stem from a 2022 lawsuit filed by the activist group Gender Justice, which secured nearly half a million dollars in taxpayer funding under Governor Tim Walz. The case forced Minnesota’s Department of Corrections to permit male inmates who identify as female into women’s prisons. Shakopee now stands as a stark warning of what happens when ideology overrides common sense—putting vulnerable women at risk in the very place meant to protect them.
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