Former prisoner transport officer sentenced for sexually assaulting detainee

CLAREMORE, Okla. (KFOR) - A former prisoner transport officer has been sentenced for sexually assaulting a pretrial detainee in August 2021.

According to the United Stated Department of Justice, Dewayne Lewis Dudley has been sentenced to 15 in prison followed by five years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a male pretrial detainee while working as a prisoner transport officer.

According to officials, 56-year-old Dewayne Dudley worked for Blue Raven Services on August 26, 2021, when he picked up the victim, a male detainee, from a jail in Boonville, Indiana, to transport him to Valencia, New Mexico.

On August 27, 2021, before arriving in New Mexico, Dudley stopped at a Holiday Inn Express in Marshfield, Missouri, where he rented a room. He brought the handcuffed victim into the hotel room and told him to shower. After the victim showered, Dudley pointed a gun at the victim and told him to undress.

Dudley then proceeded to grope the victim’s genitals, but when the victim did not respond, Dudley handcuffed himself to the victim and went to sleep.

After continuing the transfer, Dudley stopped at his apartment in Claremore, Oklahoma. Dudley then brought the handcuffed victim inside his apartment and groped the victim’s genitals again, causing the victim bodily injury.

“The defendant kidnapped and sexually assaulted a man entrusted to his care and custody, exploiting his authority and depriving this victim of his constitutional right to bodily integrity,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This sentence sends a clear message that the Justice Department is committed to protecting victims of sexual violence carried out at the hands of law enforcement officials. The privatization of positions in law enforcement does not affect our determination to hold these individuals accountable when they violate our federal civil rights laws.”