In 2019, an ACLU lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Corrections resulted in a settlement which required the state to allow violent male inmates to self-identify into the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women. The lawsuit was launched on behalf of a transgender male inmate who sought transfer but had been denied. That inmate was anonymized in court records, referred to only as “Sonia Doe.”
Reduxx has learned the identity of the anonymous inmate the ACLU represented in their fight for prison gender self-identification, and can name him as unhinged convicted terrorist Daniel Smith, also known as Danielle Demers.
As part of the settlement, the New Jersey Department of Corrections agreed to pay Demers $125,000 in damages and $45,000 in separate attorney’s fees.
In a press release issued by the ACLU-NJ, Borden remarked: “The settlement of this lawsuit puts in place systemic, far-reaching policy changes to recognize and respect the gender identity of people in prison – with housing based on gender identity, use of appropriate pronouns, access to gender-affirming property, and much more.”
According to testimonies provided to Reduxx from women incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women (EMCF), among the first men to be transferred to the prison after Demers and the ACLU-NJ were victorious in their lawsuit was a convicted woman-killer who had referred to himself as “Lucifer’s maiden servant.”
Perry Cerf was handed a 50-year sentence in 2003 for the brutal rape and murder of a sex-trafficked woman from Ecuador. Cerf, who now goes by “Michelle Hel-loki Angelina” and is recorded as female by the DOC, had been found wearing his victim’s clothes and utilizing her identification with his photo superimposed over hers.
At the time of his crime, he sent a letter to the press confessing to and boasting about the horrific slaying, stating: “Since I have a most unusual taste for blood, I drank and licked and lapped up my fill … Let it be known: I am Lucifer’s Maiden servant, sent to earth born of sin, to bring suffering and pain, darkness and evil.”
Since his release, Demers has been active on the online forum Quora, a community that operates on a question and answer format.
Demers is behind at least two profiles on the site. In one Quora profile, Demers describes himself as a “Former Tactical Analyst & Warfare Development Specialist.” He also purports to be a “rape counselor” who “sits on the board of directors for several non-profits.”
In addition to offering his expertise on topics related to transgenderism, Demers has also been responding to Quora inquiries of a sexual nature, including on topics such as furries, diapers, menstruation, and lesbianism.
But perhaps most frighteningly, Demers claims to have adopted a homeless teenage girl from an abusive background, and has responded to posts on the topic of kidnapping while himself warning others to understand laws related to the offense.
Thanks to the efforts of Demers and the ACLU, at least 27 men are now housed at EMCF, many of which have been convicted of violent crimes involving women and children.