The New Mexico Department of Corrections says it will no longer send female inmates to a halfway house named in a sexual-assault lawsuit.
Corrections spokeswoman Alex Tomlin said Monday the agency is ending its relationship with New Life Recovery House in Alamogordo out of safety concerns.
The move comes after three women last year sued a motel owner and the halfway house's director, saying they were sexually assaulted at work and threatened with being returned to prison when they complained.
The Corrections Department pulled 31 women out of the New Life Recovery House in October after the allegations surfaced.
New Life Recovery owner Vickie Clark says a former contractor named in the lawsuit no longer is affiliated with the house. She says allegations made against the center were later dismissed.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.