The Nevada Department of Corrections is shooting down a report that O.J. Simpson’s parole chances could be derailed after the former football star was caught masturbating in his cell.
Though neither the DoC nor Lovelock Correction Center, where Simpson is being held, have commented on the report directly, a statement to TMZ obliquely takes a shot at the sourcing in the Daily Mail‘s original story.
“It is against Nevada Dept. of Corrections policy to release inmate disciplinary history to the public. It is also against policy to release inaccurate information. No official from our department would have released the information in question,” read the statement.
The British tabloid cited an unnamed “prison source” claiming that Simpson was caught masturbating in his cell by a female guard. Such behavior is “strictly verboten,” according to the Daily Mail. However, TMZ also contradicted that point, writing that there is “no hard and fast rule” concerning the matter.
Simpson’s parole hearing will take place at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday, July 20, from Nevada and will be broadcast in a video pool, with networks including ESPN airing it live.
The former football star was sentenced to nine to 33 years for armed robbery and kidnapping following a scheme to break into a room at the Palace Station hotel in Las Vegas to steal sports memorabilia. Simpson denied that he broke into the room and that he held people at gunpoint, but did admit to taking the items, which included memorabilia that he said belonged to him.