EX- FEDERAL JAIL LIEUTENANT GETS 25 YEARS IN PRISION FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING INMATES

July 31st 2019
Trevor Boyer, Leonard Greene
New York Daily News

A former lieutenant at Brooklyn’s federal jail was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing inmates.

Eugenio Perez, 49, was convicted last year on charges that he forced several women to perform oral sex on him while they were in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

“Jail is a horrible place, and this defendant made it all the more horrible for his victims in this case," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadia Shihata. “This was not a momentary lapse in judgment. This was not a one-time thing.”

Prosecutors said the attacks took place between January 2013 and Sept. 2016 in Perez’s office on the second floor of the jail, where he was able to monitor security cameras to avoid being caught.

The victims testified that Perez “lured them into isolated locations, used physical force and intimidation to compel the victims to engage in sexual acts with him, including oral sex, and used his authority over them to ensure that they did not report the abuse,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Perez was convicted on 23 counts, including aggravated sexual abuse and sexual abuse of a ward.

Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said Perez’ crimes were “probably the most serious short of murder."

“I ask for mercy not just for me but for my family," Perez told the judge. "The sentence you impose on me is also the sentence you impose on my family.”

The judge said she added weight to his sentence because he was committing crimes “under the color of law” and sexually assaulting “wards,” who in two cases, were subject to deportation and therefore more vulnerable.

Perez said he plans to appeal.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-inmate-sexual-abuse-sentencing-brooklyn-federal-jail-20190731-rycfg3jlbbguhdujgusq6za6fy-story.html

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