By Marie Rohde
Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE — A guard at the Milwaukee County House of Correction has been suspended pending an investigation into claims that he sexually assaulted two female inmates Saturday, the sheriff’s office confirmed Tuesday.
Investigators confiscated uniforms and other equipment after they executed a search warrant on the home of the 29-year-old guard.
The inmates - a 19-year-old being held since Feb. 22 on charges of robbery with threat of force and a 21-year-old being held pending an extradition hearing for Arkansas - accused the guard of forcing them to have oral sex with him.
According to their allegations:
The 19-year-old said the guard grabbed her by the throat and forced her to perform a sex act. According to an affidavit in support of a search warrant, security video showed the guard entering the woman’s cell before the alleged assault. She said she had rejected a proposition he had made in a written note.
The other inmate said the guard wrote her a note that said medication she had requested was on its way and asked, “What are you going to do for it?” She said the guard forced her to undress, threatening her with disciplinary action if she failed to comply. He took the note back after the sexual assault, the woman said.
“In the past claims made by inmates were presumed to be not credible because of the source of the complaint,” Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said in a prepared statement. “My experience and responsibility lead me to keep an open mind on complaints made by inmates, especially on issues as serious as this.”
Kevin Schoop, president of the union that represents the guards, did not return a reporter’s calls.
Copyright 2009 Journal Sentinel