Ohio Corrections Officer Indicted for Sexually Abusing Inmate
A federal grand jury has indicted law enforcement officer Damon K. Perry for sexually abusing an inmate of Mahoning County Jail in Youngstown, Ohio.
Two Alleged Attacks Against the Same Inmate
The Justice Department reported that the first incident occurred on Nov. 9, 2024, while the inmate was under Perry’s supervision during her time in custody. Three weeks later, on Nov. 30, Perry again forced her into a non-consensual sexual act.
Perry faces four charges – two for sexual abuse and two more for assaulting an inmate.
After his arrest on December 13, 2024, Perry pleaded not guilty and was released on a $20,000 bond, according to CantonRep, a local news outlet.
At the time of the arrest, Perry served as a sheriff’s deputy at the Mahoning County Jail.
Official Statements
U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko spoke out against the alleged abuse, saying, “A prison sentence should never include sexual abuse.”
“And certainly not sexual abuse committed by someone to whom we have entrusted a prisoner’s care and custody,” Lutzko said .”Correction officers have significant power over the inmates they supervise—they are to use their authority to keep prisoners safe, not abuse it and violate a prisoner’s basic rights.”
Sheriff Jerry Greene said in a statement shared by the local news magazine, Vindicator, that the housing deputies have a responsibility of supervising inmates who are imprisoned under federal detention or detention for local charges.
“Once we became aware that there was an allegation of this misconduct, our office started an investigation into these allegations. He immediately resigned when we started the investigation,” Greene said.
Greene also said the investigation was opened by his own office, but Greene handed it over to federal authorities to investigate at their recommendation.
“Obviously this is extremely disappointing to all of us at the sheriff’s office, but I am going to reserve any additional comments until the final disposition of this case,” Greene said in a conclusion of his statement for Vindicator.
A Similar Case
As The Daily Muck has previously reported, cases of assault by law enforcement officials represent a disturbing trend.
In the now infamous “Rape Club” case, former Dublin Federal Correctional Institute correctional officer Darrell Wayne Smith aged 55, also known as “Dirty Dick,” committed 15 acts of sexual abuse while employed at the California prison.
He was one of the so-called “Dublin 8”, a group of officers who participated in similar hideous crimes.
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