A trans-identified male serving a life sentence for murder who was quietly transferred in to a women’s prison is now sharing a shower with female inmates, causing them to feel “violated.” Bradley Richard Sirvio, 53, was transferred into Minnesota women’s prison MCF-Shakopee at the end of last year after claiming to identify as transgender and adopting the name “Aurora.”
In November of 1995, Sirvio beat a man to death with a hammer before setting the victim’s house on fire. According to court records, Sirvio was checking himself into a detoxification center when he “volunteered to a staff member during the intake process that he may have murdered someone named George and then set the house on fire to cover up what he had done.”
A repeat offender, Sirvio has several other convictions that include multiple charges of assault, burglary, and theft. He was quietly transferred to MCF-Shakopee, Minnesota’s only women’s prison, in November of 2023. The move was made a full five months ahead of the date that a newly-drafted gender identity prison policy was set to take effect, meaning that the state of Minnesota voluntarily chose to transfer Sirvio.
Now, two women who are housed next to Sirvio have come forward to protest the situation. The women reveal that female inmates have been told to share a shower with Sirvio, despite the convicted killer having had “no surgery whatsoever.” The women, whose names have been altered to protect their identities, say that Sirvio’s presence is causing them to feel anxious and violated.
One woman, Letitia, explained: “They put a man next door to me. He claimed to be transgender. I now have to share the same wing with him. I also share the same shower with no lock on the inside door … The whole wing of women share just one shower, and we do not have another shower besides this one. Some of the women live in the wing lounge, and this is their only bathroom.”
She continued: “This man is not transgender. No surgery has been done whatsoever. He is fully a man, and still has a man’s body part attached to him. He acts like a man, sounds like a man, behaves like a man.”
Letitia describes herself as a “vulnerable adult,” and adds that she feels exceedingly uncomfortable sharing an unlocked shower with a biological male.
“This violates my conscience. It causes me to feel uncomfortable when taking a shower, knowing there is no protection for me.” Letitia further noted how, despite voicing her concerns for her safety to prison officials, the matter was ignored and she was told, “there’s nothing [the authorities] can do about it unless something really happens to me.”
Letitia’s sentiment was echoed by another female inmate, who will be referred to as Kari.
“Men were brought to Shakopee, and us women were neither informed nor asked how we would feel about living with them,” Kari said, referring to a gender identity policy that was officially implemented in January of 2023.
“There are women here who have been assaulted by men, and may have PTSD because of it. We can’t go to staff and tell them how we feel about the situation because no one wants to discuss it. There are no locks on the bathroom door, so when taking a shower, I feel so unsafe,” Kari said.
“The first day that [Sirvio] moved in, I had an appointment with my mental health worker and I let her know why my anxiety was so high,” she said. “It makes me feel violated emotionally. She understood my concerns and said that she would feel the same way, knowing that they are violent and sex offenders … I just don’t understand why the DOC would put violent men and sex offenders around all these women. It’s sad that the staff doesn’t care about how we as women feel.”
Reduxx has seen communications from Sirvio wherein he explained that he first began to claim a transgender status approximately five years ago.
“I didn’t know too much about transgender stuff until then,” Sirvio said. “I always wanted to be a woman. I never was or am attracted to men, and I am open to things! I didn’t feel like a drag queen or a cross dresser and only found out about transgender stuff five years ago. I’ve been on hormones… and wearing women’s underclothes.”
The convicted killer commented that he had “anger issues” while incarcerated in the male facility MCF-Oak Park and “ended up hitting two [correctional officers]” with a pool stick, resulting in his transfer to USP Marion, in Illinois.
Sirvio also stated that his transfer into the women’s prison took place after he filed an application with the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ (DOC) Gender Identity Committee. However, according to an official announcement from the state, the gender identity policy was not set to take effect until April 1, 2024, whereas Sirvio was relocated to MCF-Shakopee in November 2023 – five months ahead of schedule.
He added that since he was moved into MCF-Shakopee, female prison staff, rather than male guards, are required to perform strip searches and pat downs on his person. This is done as a result of the new gender identity policy, which states, “pat and unclothed body searches of incarcerated people who are transgender, gender diverse, intersex, or nonbinary must be done in accordance with the gender of the facility in which they are assigned… Incarcerated people who are transgender, gender diverse, intersex, or nonbinary may request that they receive pat or unclothed body searches from security staff of a specific gender.”
As previously reported by Reduxx, there have been at least six male convicts transferred into MCF-Shakopee since 2023, half of whom are serving or have served sentences on charges related to the sexual abuse of children.
The prison policy was altered following a 2022 lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Corrections which ultimately resulted in the implementation of measures permitting male convicts to be housed in the female estate. The lawsuit, filed by trans activist non-profit organization Gender Justice – which was recently revealed to have received nearly $500,000 in taxpayer funds from the administration of Governor Tim Walz.
The discrimination claim was filed by the trans activist non-profit organization Gender Justice on behalf of Craig ‘Christina’ Lusk, who was serving a five-year sentence for the possession of methamphetamine at the Moose Lake correctional facility for men.
“I was uneasy when Lusk lived on my wing because [he] still had [his] male anatomy, was built like a line backer, had a horrible temper, and would verbalize that [he] ‘still had a working unit,’” one woman, known as Janice, told Reduxx in October. “Thankfully [he] was discharged this past year.”
“I definitely have my concerns and opinions about the male inmates being admitted into our facility, but like most inmates there is a fear of speaking up or voicing those concerns because of potential retaliation, or because people will think you are being discriminatory or judgemental,” said Janice.
Commenting on Lusk’s transfer last November, Aaron Swanum with the Minnesota DOC remarked, “Minnesota has now joined 10 other states and the District of Columbia in approving transfers to facilities matching an inmate’s gender identity. The DOC is committed to providing supportive and safe environments for people of all gender identities and our new policy reflects this commitment.”
Upon his release this year, Lusk was awarded a $495,000 payout. But Lusk’s ex-wife came forward last year to tell The Daily Mail that she believed he was a “scammer” and a “big fat liar.” The two were married in 2005, but Lusk’s wife filed for divorce in 2008 due to his heavy drinking and violent behavior.
Janice currently shares a unit with Elijah Thomas Berryman, 26, who was first arrested in April 2022 and accused of sexually abusing a minor multiple times. He pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in March of this year, and according to the Minnesota DOC website, is currently serving his 25-year sentence at the women’s prison.
Last week, Reduxx revealed that a man who was convicted of sexually abusing a six year-old girl was transferred into MCF-Shakopee, where he had exposed himself to one of the female inmates. Despite having repeatedly lied about his identity to law enforcement in a bid to evade the law, Daniel Patrick Benz was permitted to change his name to Danielle Marie Whitebird in June of 2023 after his petition was approved by the state of Minnesota.
In addition to the name change, Benz also was supplied with a “replacement birth record” which declared his sex as female, despite not having undergone any surgeries, according to his own legal complaints.
Reduxx would like to extend a special thanks to Hands of Hope Prison Ministry for facilitating the inmate communications for this report.
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