Prisoner sues guards over attacks by her cellmate

A Las Vegas woman who is serving a life sentence for her role in the sexual assaults of several children has filed a civil rights lawsuit against two Clark County Detention Center corrections officers.

Terrie Sena, 45, was one of three Las Vegas adults charged with videotaping sex acts with several children, including members of their family. She pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and was sentenced in June to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.

Sena, who is representing herself in the civil case, mailed her lawsuit on Oct. 22 from the Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center in Las Vegas to U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The court received it Monday.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are officer Coleman and officer Clinkscales. The Las Vegas Review-Journal tried to reach the officers for comment, but a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, which runs the county jail, said the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The spokesman, Larry Hatfield, said officer Nichole Coleman has worked at the jail since December 2005, and officer Zippora Clinkscales has worked at the facility since November 2013.

According to a handwritten narrative in Sena's lawsuit, she was assaulted numerous times by her cellmate at the jail between February and April.

Sena claims she immediately sent a "kite," the term used for written communication from an inmate, regarding her concerns but received no response. According to her lawsuit, the violence escalated at the end of March.

The inmate sent a second kite on April 6 "and again no response," the lawsuit alleges.

"On April 10, 2015 I handed a kite to officer Coleman addressed to the sergeant — she handed it back and said she had no intentions on moving me or the cellmate," Sena wrote. "At this point my husband called the jail."

Sena then was visited by Clinkscales, who took her to a private area to question her before returning her to her cell, according to the lawsuit.

"Clinkscales then repeated the concerns I had to my cellmate," Sena wrote.

According to the lawsuit, this prompted a "final vicious assault" from the cellmate.

"My cellmate pulled me by my hair to the ground and repeatedly kicked me in my face and head until two male officers removed the cellmate," Sena wrote.

According to the lawsuit, Coleman never reported to her superiors the attacks Sena was enduring, despite having prior knowledge of the cellmate "repeatedly attacking other inmates."

Sena is seeking a total of $100,000 in damages from the officers. She claims their actions amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

The woman was arrested last year with her ex-husband, Christopher Sena, and his wife, Deborah Sena. They were accused of videotaping sexual assaults on at least eight children.

An investigation began in September when Deborah Sena, another adult and a child told an attorney that Christopher Sena would force members of the family to have sex with each other, police said. The attorney told police as required by law.

The criminal cases against Christopher and Deborah Sena are pending in Clark County District Court.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer