Prisoner advocates with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Johnson in his lawsuit, and other stop-rape groups express amazement at Texas' defense that the high number of reported rapes is a good sign.

"I don't think anyone but the officials in Texas look at it as a positive sign," Hall-Martinez said, noting that Texas could soon become subject to federal funding sanctions if its high numbers continue. States with the highest numbers of reported prison rapes are also likely to be called to testify before a federal commission studying the issue, officials said.

Twenty-five years ago, when Dretke was hired as a guard, convict bosses were still allowed to supervise dorms and mete out punishment. Rapes were seldom reported. Much the same was still true as recently as a decade ago, when they were officially logged in dozens, not hundreds.

"The first time we had a requirement that it had to be reported was 2000 or 2001," he said. "We now have a very detailed process, a strong, strong focus on this. We work in an environment where we have to be aware of a number of aspects, including the fact that manipulation occurs."

"We're dealing with people who can be very manipulative, who have been around law enforcement and the (prison) system for a while and know how to play games," Moriarty said. "They say: 'I'm going to get you' or 'I'm going to get even with you.' Sex happens in prison. What may have been consensual at the time becomes rape."

Even so, authorities are required to investigate every complaint. And with the high-tech tools now used by prison investigators -- DNA tests, forensic exams, even special gear that can detect body fluids on clothing and bedding -- officials said investigators can better ferret out who is telling the truth.

"One inmate said, 'This is (my attacker's) semen.' It turned out to be his own," Moriarty said. "Another one has reported being attacked 200 times. It didn't happen . . . and we've got a camera on him now 24/7."

Then, too, is the problem that Moriarty and other authorities say they have faced in prosecuting prison sex crimes: Juries are often unsympathetic to inmates.

In one case, a young convict was raped by a member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. Officials confirmed his story with reports of broken ribs and black eyes, witnesses and forensic evidence, but a jury found the attacker not guilty of sexual assault. Because he used a knife, though, they convicted him of possession of a weapon, and he got 30 additional years in prison.

In another case a few years ago, investigators accused a parole officer of coercing sex from women convicts at a Gatesville prison. He was acquitted. In places with prison rape problems, prison rape experts say, poorly managed staff, personnel shortages, low morale and lack of training are also a problem.

"You can have the same manipulation in any system, so why are Texas' numbers so high?" asked Cindy Struckman-Johnson, a psychology professor at the University of South Dakota who is a nationally recognized expert on prison rape. She is also a member of the National Prison Rape Elimination Act Commission, a federal panel that is drawing up rules toaddress the problem.

Like advocates who have been following Johnson's case, she predicts the jury's verdict will have one positive effect: bringing attention to the issue.

"Had this happened five years ago, it would have been very ominous for the future, because every prison administrator would probably have said, 'We can beat these cases,' " Struckman-Johnson said. "Now, there is so much pressure on prisons to address the issue, they're not going to be able to do nothing. (The verdict) should not take away from what happened to (Johnson).

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