Arizona wants lawsuit filed by raped prison teacher tossed

PHOENIX (AP) - Lawyers for the state of Arizona are asking a judge to dismiss a civil rights-violations lawsuit filed by a Department of Corrections teacher who was raped by a convicted sex offender in a prison classroom.

The lawsuit blames corrections employees for failing to establish proper security and its health care provider for not providing a mental health evaluation to the prisoner. That allowed the 20-year-old convicted rapist to be classified as a relatively low-risk offender and gain access to the classroom in January 2014.

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the dismissal request Monday. A deputy attorney general wrote that there is always an assault risk when working with prisoners.

The victim's lawyer says there's nothing normal about being placed in a classroom alone with six or seven sex offenders.