Three correction officers charged for sexually abusing female inmates; one made light of issue on Facebook
Three correction officers charged for sexually abusing female inmates, repeatedly preying on prisoners
Lt. Eugenio Perez, 46, repeatedly raped five female inmates
Lt. Carlos Richard Martinez, 47, violently raped one prisoner he’d summon to clean his office, repeatedly, between Dec 2015 and Apr 2016
Ofcr Armando Moronta, 39, is accused of repeatedly having sex with three female inmates in an office at the facility
Martinez allegedly, made light of issue on Facebook
Lt. Perez and Lt. Martinez are facing a lifetime in jail
Armando Moronta faces up to 15 years in jail for each of the three counts
Two federal prison lieutenants at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY have been charged with gross abuse of their supervisory and disciplinary authority over inmates.
As lieutenants, Eugenio Perez and Carlos Richard Martinez were responsible for supervising other correctional officers, including identifying and deterring staff sexual abuse and sexual harassment, prosecutors wrote in court papers seeking to have them detained without bail pending trial.
The two lieutenants and an officer, Armando Moronta, 39, are facing up to life in prison on a range of charges filed by Brooklyn federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the two lieutenants and one officer at the Metropolitan Detention Center abused nine women total.
Lt. Eugenio Perez who allegedly abused five women starting in 2013 was nailed by physical attributes, which is memorialized by his nickname. It involves an unusual attribute to his male organ, according to court papers.
Investigators clinched the rape case against himafter four of his victims separately gave investigators matching descriptions of this attribute, itself not described in the papers released Thursday.
A search warrant obtained by investigators required Lt. Perez to drop his pants, confirming the women’s description, the documents state.
Facing similar charges, 47-year-old Lt. Carlos Martinez allegedly, used “physical force and fear to repeatedly rape” one inmate, according to court papers.
Officer Armando Moronta, already under indictment for smuggling contraband into the detention center, allegedly preyed on three woman.
The men were arrested Thursday and scheduled to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court for arraignment.
Perez and Martinez face up to life in prison, while Moronta is looking at a 15-year sentence.
Prosecutors said Martinez made light of the crimes, posting a photo of two men who appeared to be MDC guards with a caption reading, “It’s only PREA when you don’t like it” a reference to the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
Prosecutors pointing to a mountain of evidence said the against the defendants is strong, including victim testimony, witness accounts, medical documents, phone and social media records.
Perez the documet stated, “repeatedly and flagrantly ignored his sworn duty as a federal correctional officer to uphold the law and protect the prisoners under his authority and control,” prosecutors said.
“He also used fear to prevent his victims from coming forward.”
From December 2015 to April 2016, Martinez, a former Marine, allegedly targeted a petite female inmate in her late 20s who spoke little English. The victim said Martinez forced her into sex at least 10 times.
Prosecutors said Martinez used physical force and fear to repeatedly rape the inmate almost every weekend for two months, sometimes multiple times a weekend.
They surmised that he targeted her in part because she spoke little English, had few prison visitors and was going to be turned over to ICE once she finished serving her sentence.
Lt. Martinez has been violent with women when off-duty, prosecutors said. He was arrested last year for a Manhattan road rage incident in which he smashed up the windshield of a woman who cut him off. He demanded she get out of her car, and when she did, Martinez punched her twice in the face.
Martinez ended up pleading guilty in February to disorderly conduct and getting a conditional discharge.
In January Armando Moronta, faced a separate charge in a bribery scheme he ran with the girlfriend of an inmate. The duo have been indicted in connection with a bribery scheme worth thousands of dollars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York’s eastern district.
Alicia Alonso, 31, gave Moronta thousands of dollars in bribes so he would smuggle in contraband for the prisoners, charge documents stated.
The criminal complaint states that Alonso gave Moronta contraband like cellphones, Suboxone and “K2,” a synthetic narcotic seen by users as a cheaper alternative to marijuana, for the prisoners. Moronta then gave the contraband to prisoners on 12 occasions between March 2016 and December 2016 in exchange for the money, the complaint said. The DA’s office said Moronta who received $1000 and $3000 for each successful delivery came up with the scheme himself and recruited Alonso. Both face up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the charges.
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