Mahoning County Corrections Officer Charged With Sexual Abuse Of Inmate

Friday, December 27, 2024, 5:45 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

CLEVELAND, OH.- On Friday, December 27, 2024, a Federal Grand Jury for the Northern District of Ohio returned an indictment against Damon K. Perry, 52, of Youngstown, Ohio, charging Perry with Sexual Abuse of a Person Being Held in Police Custody.

     According to U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko and charging information unsealed in the indictment, it has been alleged that Perry, a corrections officer, sexually abused a female inmate in federal detention at the Mahoning County Jail on two separate occasions in November 2023.

     The correctional facility, located in Youngstown, Ohio, is federally contracted to house federal detainees as directed by federal law enforcement. 

According To Charges Unsealed In The Indictment

     The first incident allegedly occurred when the female inmate was under Perry’s control and supervision as she was being detained in custody on November 9, 2023. Charging information indicated that during the initial investigation, investigators uncovered a second incident that occurred on November 30, 2023, when Perry again engaged in a non-consensual act with the same federal inmate under his authority and supervision.

     “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,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “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.”