A correctional officer is accused of sexually abusing an inmate at a Brooklyn federal jail after his DNA was recovered from the victim’s prison jumpsuit.
James Johnson, 36, was indicted for allegedly attacking the inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park in May 2025, according to Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York.
First, the defendant ordered the inmate to accompany him to the MDC’s chaplain’s offices. There, the defendant directed the inmate to perform oral sex on the defendant while the two of them were concealed behind a collection of stacked chairs, according to court documents.
On the second occasion, the defendant ordered the inmate to leave his unit and accompany the defendant to a remote area within the MDC where there was a rarely used suite of offices. There, the defendant again directed John Doe to perform oral sex on him and attempted to have sexual intercourse with John Doe. After the defendant ejaculated in John Doe’s mouth, John Doe wiped the defendant’s semen on his prison jumpsuit, which was later recovered by federal agents. The jumpsuit was analyzed by a forensic laboratory, and a stain on the leg of the jumpsuit was found to contain semen, according to court documents.
“As alleged, Johnson leveraged his position as a correctional officer to take advantage of a man he was supposed to be protecting in his capacity as a prison guard and used his access to gratify his own sexual desires,” Nocella said in a statement. “My office is steadfast in its commitment to root out corruption and abuse within federal prisons, especially when that abuse is perpetrated at the hands of guards and jeopardizes the safety and security of the institution and the inmates.”
