|
|
| Ex-Officer Pleads Guilty in Inmate Sex-Assault Case |
| By Salt Lake Tribune |
| Published: 05/20/2003 |
|
A fired prison officer pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the sexual assault of a 19-year-old female Utah State Prison inmate. Louis James Poleate, 44, entered the plea May 12 to custodial sexual relations, a third-degree felony. He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced June 23. 'I want him to serve time for what he did to me,' the woman, now 20, said recently. She was released from prison March 11. She said she has attempted suicide twice since her release, both times trying to overdose on medication. Each time, she thought of her family and told someone to seek medical attention for her, she said. Poleate was initially charged with first-degree felony rape, punishable by a sentence of up to life in prison. He is accused of forcing the woman to have sex Sept. 17 after he took her from her cell, saying he was to escort her to the infirmary. 'I was telling him 'no' the whole damn time,' the woman testified in January at a preliminary hearing. 'I said, 'I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this.' ' The woman told her cellmate about the incident the next day. A medical exam found evidence consistent with nonconsensual sex, officials have said. Records indicated the woman was never taken to the infirmary. Court documents allege Poleate wrote two letters to the woman before the alleged assault, stating he was hers 'for life.' Poleate had worked at the Draper prison for a few weeks. He was fired by the Department of Corrections after the allegations were made. The woman has an extensive criminal record, including a dozen instances in which she has either been charged and/or convicted of assaulting a fellow inmate during her three years of incarceration, court records show. But now, she said, she is working at a restaurant and has a fiancé. Still, she said, she is having trouble moving on. 'I want justice served,' she said. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think