An investigation into sex assaults involving Hawai'i and other female inmates at a private Kentucky prison has widened and now includes 19 alleged attacks over the past three years.

Honolulu attorney Myles Breiner is representing three Hawai'i women who allege they were sexually assaulted at Otter Creek Correctional Center within the past 12 to 18 months. The most recent sex assault was reported June 23 and allegedly involved a male corrections officer.

Meanwhile, Kentucky officials say they have launched an investigation into 16 alleged sex assaults at Otter Creek involving Kentucky women. Some of the allegations date back to 2006.

Breiner said he expects more allegations of sex assault involving Hawai'i women to surface during investigations under way by the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety, which sent a team to Otter Creek last week to speak to female inmates from the Islands and look into the allegations.

The developments are spurring new discussions about whether the state should end its contract with Otter Creek and bring the 165 Hawai'i women at the privately operated prison back to Hawai'i.

State Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman Will Espero, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu), said he will hold a public hearing in August on the assault allegations, during which he plans to call on state officials to halt the practice of shipping Hawai'i female inmates to the Mainland.

"This might be a good opportunity for (Public Safety Director) Clayton Frank to show some leadership and ... bring the women home," Espero said, adding that he also believes more assault allegations will come to light in the coming months. "We might have heard ... the tip of the iceberg."

Tommy Johnson, deputy director of DPS, would not say how many allegations the state is investigating because the cases are ongoing. But he said he was at Otter Creek all last week to speak to Hawai'i women in groups and to talk to some in one-on-one sessions. He also toured the facility and looked at its "operational security." He would not discuss what the Hawai'i female inmates told him in the sessions, saying that "it would be premature and inappropriate to do so."

Otter Creek, in Wheelwright, Ky., is operated by Corrections Corporation of America. A spokesman for the company said it is conducting its own investigation into the assault allegations.

Hawai'i has had a contract to house female inmates at Otter Creek since October 2005.

Breiner said the three Hawai'i women at the prison whom he represents allege they were sexually assaulted within the past 18 months. The most recent assault was reported on June 23, and is under investigation by Kentucky state police, who said it involved a male corrections officer.

Kentucky state police spokesman Mike Goble said a detective investigating the June 23 sex assault was also informed of other assault allegations. It's unclear whether those assaults involved Hawai'i women, and Goble said police have not yet decided how to proceed on those allegations.

Meanwhile, the Kentucky Department of Corrections said Thursday that it is investigating allegations that 16 Kentucky women were sexually assaulted at Otter Creek as far back as 2006.

Spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said the allegations relate to incidents over the past three years.

In a statement, she said some of the allegations were previously reported but are being reinvestigated. She also said the department is sharing information with Hawai'i officials and the CCA.

Allegations of sexual misconduct involving corrections workers and Hawai'i inmates have surfaced before at Otter Creek and in other private prisons, including in Oklahoma in 2000 and Colorado in 2005. In 2007, a Hawai'i inmate at Otter Creek alleged a corrections officer came to her room and demanded she perform sex acts. The officer was convicted on a misdemeanor.

Following the incident, Otter Creek prison officials said they would change their procedures to require that a female correctional officer be paired with a male officer in housing units.

Breiner, the Honolulu attorney, said that from his discussions with Hawai'i inmates it doesn't appear that's happening at Otter Creek. He said there are not enough female corrections officers at Otter Creek.

He also said that in the wake of the publicity following the allegations, some Hawai'i inmates have expressed concerns about retaliation and he said he's worried about the safety of his clients.

The cost of exporting Hawai'i inmates is cheaper than building new facilities or expanding existing ones, but advocates have long criticized the practice because of its impact on families. They point out that many female inmates have kids who suffer during the separation.

The state pays about $50 million annually to CCA to house some 2,000 male and female inmates in Mainland prisons. All 165 Hawai'i female inmates on the Mainland are at Otter Creek, a 656-bed prison that houses minimum- and medium-security men and women. The state renewed its $3.6 million contract with the facility in November. The contract is set to expire in October.

Espero has suggested moving the Otter Creek women to the Honolulu Federal Detention Center, near the airport. DPS has said it would cost about $5 million a year to keep the women at the center — about $1.4 million more than the cost of keeping them at Otter Creek.