Md. correctional officer admits to sexually assaulting inmate

CLARKSBURG, MD (WUSA9) – He’s out of a job and in trouble with the law after police say a former corrections officers hired to protect inmates sexually assaulted one instead.

Montgomery County Correction Officials describe the inmate not as a transgender woman but a person who identifies as a woman but is living in the male cell block at the Clarksburg jail. According to the jail’s policy and the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the inmate is receiving treatment and counseling.

WUSA9 Delia Gonçalves’ visited the CO’s address. A woman who answered the door confirmed it was his home but he was not there at the time.

A middle school aged boy was inside the home. She did not want to answer any additional questions.

Here’s what we know about Olukunle Oyekanmi: He’s 41 years old, a former corrections officer hired with a clean background check in December 2016.  Police say he admitted to forcing the inmate to perform oral sex on him Tuesday July 11^th.

It’s all laid out in the court documents. Police identify the inmate as SS for “fear of retribution.” SS was on the bottom bunk, covered up in bed when the CO allegedly ripped off the blanket, fondled the victim, and forced the inmate to perform the sex act.

According to the record, he tried to cover it all up. He washed his hands, made the inmate wash clothes but SS held on to a pair of pants soiled with the CO’s DNA. That, plus surveillance camera footage sealed his fate.  Oyekanmi is charged with sexual assault and malfeasance in office. He was released on $20,000 bond.

Chris Daley’s an advocate for prisoners who’ve been sexually assaulted. He’s the deputy executive director of Just Detention International.

“It’s a significant issue,” he said. “Federal research has found that 200,000 inmates are sexually assaulted in jails across the country each year and 50 percent of those attacks are committed by staff members just like in Montgomery County.”

Originally posted here.