Rogers which outraged Bermuda.

The allegations of neglect of duty follow an in-depth probe by the Assistant Commissioner of Prisons.

The investigation revealed Rogers escaped from a washroom in a "security area'' at the Prison Farm.

He had been placed there following a row with a visitor.

It has also emerged the career criminal was strong enough to rip out his cell bars.

But the report cleared the Prison Service of any problems with procedure.

Yesterday Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness uncovered parts of the report.

"The officer on duty in this security area appears not to have supervised Rogers properly,'' he said.

"Rogers escaped from a nearby toilet by removing four reinforcing bars and a small louvred aluminium frame from a window and climbing out.

"He used no tools in this escape, but was physically strong enough to yank the bars and the frame from the mortar in which they were set.'' Mr. Edness said he had asked Commissioner of Prisons Mr. Ed Dyer to read the riot act to his staff.

Government would not accept the "kind of dereliction of duty'' which led to the escape, he said.

"I will expect the strongest disciplinary measures to be taken in any similar incident in the future.'' Rogers, a convicted sex attacker and burglar, broke out of the Ferry Reach Prison Farm one week before Christmas.

He was the chief suspect in a rash of crimes committed while he was on the run. Police arrested him in the backyard of a Ferrars Lane home after four days on the run.

Officers swooped minutes after a man fitting Rogers' description broke into a Rosemont Avenue home and threatened a woman with a knife.

An initial prison report on the escape was sent back by Acting Social Services Minister the Hon. Michael Winfield.

He said it failed to answer important questions.

"I am not satisfied with what I've read and I've asked for more details,'' Sen. Winfield stated.

"There are a lot of questions I need answered in the report and I am seeking answers and I am going to get them.'' Yesterday Mr. Edness said he had been handed a new report.

He did not intend releasing it in full "since it has to do with the security of the prison''.

But he revealed: "The investigation of Rogers' escape has resulted in charges being laid against two prison officers for neglect of duty.

"An internal hearing has been conducted by the Assistant Commissioner of Prisons.

"He has made recommendations as to the disposition of the charges, which according to prison rules must be forwarded to the Public Service Commission for their approval.

"These recommendations are in the process of being sent to the PSC.'' Mr. Edness added: "The report does not reveal any deficiency in Prison Service procedure, so we shall be making no changes in Prison Service operating procedures.'' He was also keen to rebut astonishing allegations in a recent article in the Mid-Ocean News.

The Mid-Ocean News had reported Rogers' cell was filled with tools, including a 30-inch chain saw, hatchets, hammers and petrol.

The newspaper added, according to sources, Rogers used cocaine in prison and had not been eligible for transfer to the farm.

Rogers was moved to the Prison Farm to do private work for prison officers including car repairs and woodwork, the sources claimed.

If prison policy had been followed, he would not have been eligible for transfer to the farm from Casemates Prison for at least six years.

Some prison officers helped Rogers run his carpentry business from the farm by providing him with cedar wood, the sources further claimed. And prison rules might also have been breached, the article went on to state.

But Mr. Edness yesterday declared: "The Mid-Ocean News article implied that Rogers escaped from a cell in which carpentry tools had been left.

"This is not correct. He escaped from a washroom in a security area to which he had been sent after an altercation with a male visitor.

"No tools whatsoever were present either in his cell in that area or in the washroom.

"The article also suggested that Rogers had failed a drug test immediately before his escape.

"That, too, is incorrect. There were two drug tests done on Rogers in the period before his arrest, and both were negative.'' Mr. Edness said Rogers had received a ten-year jail sentence for several offences, including kidnapping and assault.

From May 1990 to January 1993 he was held in Casemates.

Last January the Prison Department was asked to provide carpenters to build cell furniture for the new Dockyard prison, said Mr. Edness.

It was agreed that prisoners skilled in carpentry would help in the work at the Prison Farm.

Added Mr. Edness: "Rogers is a skilled carpenter. He had spent time at the Prison Farm in 1987, during a previous period of incarceration, and had behaved well while there.

"A recommendation was made by senior staff that he should be transferred.

"After nearly a year at the Prison Farm, Rogers was involved in the altercation with a visitor to the Farm to which I referred earlier, and was immediately placed in a security area.'' Yesterday Mid-Ocean News editor Mr. Tim Hodgson was reluctant to engage in a "slanging match'' with Mr. Edness.

But he stressed he had no doubt his paper's December 31 story was substantially correct.

And he added the prison report had failed to tackle key points in the article.

"The Social Services Minister has raised more questions than he has answered.

"I would suggest he go back and re-read our story in its entirety. He would realise some key points raised in the article have not been addressed by the prison report.'' BRIAN ROGERS -- The career criminal was strong enough to rip out his cell bars.