By Linda Spice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County Jail guard charged with forcing sex acts on two female inmates was ordered held on $10,000 bail Thursday while Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. moved quickly to fire him.
James Howard, 28, is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an inmate by a correctional officer and two counts of third-degree sexual assault.
Howard has worked as a county corrections officer since January 2008 and has been on administrative suspension since Saturday, when the women, ages 21 and 19, reported that he had threatened them with discipline if they did not have sex with him, according to authorities and a criminal complaint.
Clarke said Howard’s planned termination “has to be little consolation to the victims who have to live with this horrific experience for the rest of their lives. They may be jail inmates, but they were not deserving of the degrading action that James Howard allegedly perpetrated on them. They were vulnerable, locked up with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”
Clarke said an internal investigation will examine whether there may have been other victims and how Howard gained access to cells where he wasn’t assigned. Officers usually work in pairs, and male officers are not allowed into female inmates’ cells alone, he said.
According to the complaint:
One inmate said Howard approached her cell and asked if she had a man and if she needed anything. She said she would like Tylenol. He returned shortly and slid a note under her door: “Tylenol is on the way. Are you going to do something for me?”
He returned to her cell later and threatened her with discipline if she said anything or did not comply with his demand for a sex act. She told investigators she was crying. He left, but returned 30 minutes later, told her to undress and forced sex again.
The other inmate said Howard slid a note under the door that read something like, “Do you got a man, Are you ready for me?” He told her to give him the note back and then left, returning later and ordering her to disrobe. When she refused, he grabbed her and forced her to have sex.
Copyright 2009 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel