YOUNGSTOWN — An Ohio corrections officer is facing federal charges for reportedly sexually abusing an inmate last year.
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Damon Perry, 52, of Youngstown, was indicted by a federal grand jury this month on two counts of sexual abuse of a detainee and two counts of sexual abuse, according to federal court documents.
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Perry is accused of sexually abusing a female inmate under federal detention at the Mahoning County Jail twice in November 2023. The jail serves under contract with a federal law enforcement agency to house detainees at their direction as needed.
Both reported assaults took place when the inmate was under Perry’s supervision, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
“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. “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.”
WKBN reported that Perry resigned as soon as a sheriff’s office investigation into the allegations began.
Perry’s trial is currently scheduled to begin in February 2025.
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