Ohio corrections officer accused of sexually abusing inmate in Mahoning

A corrections officer is accused of sexually abusing a woman under federal detention at Mahoning County Jail on two occasions last year.

Damon K. Perry, 52, of Youngstown, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to non-consensual sexual acts with a female inmate, according to a news release issued Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland.

A spokeswoman for the office did not have information about Perry’s current employment status.

A message left for Perry’s attorney was not immediately returned Friday.

According to the indictment filed on Dec. 5, Perry sexually abused the woman on two occasions ― Nov. 9 and Nov. 30 in 2023 ― at the Mahoning County Jail. The facility in Youngstown contracts with federal law enforcement to hold federal inmates.

“A prison sentence should never include sexual abuse, and certainly not sexual abuse committed by someone to whom we have entrusted a prisoner’s care and custody,” Rebecca Lutzko, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said in a prepared statement. “Correction officers have significant power over the inmates they supervise — they are to use their authority to keep prisoners safe, not abuse it and violate a prisoner’s basic rights.”

Perry was arrested on Dec. 13 and pleaded not guilty on the same day to two counts of sexual abuse and two counts of sexual abuse of a detainee, according to court records. He was released on a $20,000 bond.

Perry’s trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 18, 2025, at the U.S. District Court in Cleveland.

Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.com

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Mahoning County corrections officer accused of sexually abusing inmate

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