“He could have been searched 100 times and we might not have found it.”
By DAVID HUNT
Florida Times-Union
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First, the knife to the throat.
Then for the next hour, a Duval County inmate raped a corrections officer twice in the jail’s law library, thwarting her attempts to summon help by breaking her cell phone and taking away her radio, according to a report released Friday.
Jonathan Tave, 26, an inmate awaiting trial for murder, faces multiple charges after the assault Thursday. The officer -- whose name is not being released -- was not severely injured but is on leave, jail officials say.
Authorities are continuing to investigate how the inmate managed to sneak a homemade knife into the library. The assault lasted for about an hour, and Tave was apprehended at a nearby elevator.
Jail Chief Tara Wildes said Friday that, under jail policy, Tave should have been searched at least once before he went into the room. General practice is to search inmates before and after they leave their cells for the library or medical clinic. But she was unable to confirm whether Tave was searched.
Because of the size of the knife, “he could have been searched 100 times and we might not have found it,” she said.
Fraternal Order of Police local President Nelson Cuba said Friday he was “outraged” by the attack and that it shows a need for more correctional officers.
“The shortage of manpower in that jail, the shortage of overtime to save money and the overpopulation of inmates caused this,” Cuba said. “This shouldn’t happen.”
Wildes said supervision can pose a logistical problem. She said the jail was built to hold fewer than 2,200 inmates but typically holds about 2,500.
“At any given time we have 80 to 85 corrections officers on duty, but somewhere around 100 inmates that need to be moved somewhere,” she said. “But I wouldn’t blame it on short staffing. I blame it on the inmate who did what he did.”
The victim, a 29-year veteran, did paralegal work and assisted inmates in legal research, Wildes said.
Jail officials said the incident was the first time that a correctional officer was raped in the jail.
Asked how the attack could have gone on undetected for one hour, police spokesman Ken Jefferson said he could not answer because the investigation is ongoing.
Tave, who has been incarcerated since 2005 on firearm and murder charges, had no history of violence toward corrections officials and qualified for no supervision beyond the one officer in the library, Wildes said.
He was charged with four counts of sexual battery, aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, kidnapping, two counts of depriving an officer of a means of protection or communication, possession of a concealed weapon by a felon and two counts of evidence tampering.
According to the report, the inmate suddenly grabbed the officer by the arm and held the weapon to her throat. He took away her radio and deflected her attempts to use pepper spray and then raped her. He then raped her a second time saying “he was going to hurt her like the white people had hurt him.”
Tave has a long felony arrest record for charges ranging from drugs and gun violations to grand theft auto and arson. Even after his 2005 murder arrest, he was charged with battery on another jail inmate, but that charge eventually was dropped, according to court records.
He was arrested on a weapons charge shortly after the shooting death of Cedric Henry during a carjacking attempt in January 2005, but he wasn’t charged with murder for nine months. A grand jury indicted him for first-degree murder and armed robbery in April 2006. Prosecutors aren’t seeking the death penalty.
A co-defendant, Tyrone Fisher, was arrested in April 2006, and he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March 2007. He is cooperating with prosecutors against Tave, Assistant State Attorney Melissa Nelson said.
Court records show Tave’s case has been scheduled for trial three times, but each time Circuit Judge John Merrett has granted defense motions to delay the trial. The most recent was this week.
Tave’s attorney, Michael Bossen, said the new charges make Tave’s scheduled June trial date unlikely. Bossen said he plans to ask the judge to move the trial out of Jacksonville because of publicity.
Bossen cited other reasons the case has taken so long. He said the state listed more than 120 material witnesses and each has to be deposed.
City Councilman Kevin Hyde said he wants to see an incident report to determine whether any policy changes are needed.
“The real question is whether there is something that needs to be done to prevent future incidents,” Hyde said Friday.
Times-Union writer Paul Pinkham contributed to this story.
Copyright 2008 The Florida Times-Union