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| Ex-Officer Sentenced for Sex Crime |
| By Salt Lake Tribune |
| Published: 08/05/2003 |
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A former Department of Corrections officer was sentenced July 28 to up to five years in prison for the sexual assault of a female inmate last year -- but probably will not be in the same prison where he worked, officials said. Louis James Poleate, 44, understands that his conduct was 'wholly inappropriate' and 'has taken this matter very, very seriously,' defense attorney Shawn Robinson told 3rd District Judge Dennis Fuchs on his client's behalf. He pleaded with Fuchs for leniency, saying Poleate has two children, is his family's only means of support and that his wife of 20 years suffers from a serious kidney ailment. 'I really do care about his kids,' Poleate's 20-year-old victim, who was released from prison in March, told Fuchs. 'But you know what? He wasn't thinking about his kids when he was raping me.' Fuchs was unmoved by Robinson's arguments, telling Poleate he held a position of authority over inmates and was charged with keeping them safe. Poleate was initially charged with a first-degree felony count of rape, but pleaded guilty in May to a third-degree felony count of custodial sexual relations. Last Sept. 17, he took the woman, then 19, from her cell, saying she was to undergo tests at the prison infirmary. The woman testified in a January preliminary hearing that Poleate then kissed her, forced her into a supine position and raped her on the floor. Prison transport records showed the woman was taken from her cell at 4:35 p.m. and returned at 5:35 p.m., and infirmary records showed the woman was never taken there that day. A forensic nurse found genital trauma 'consistent with sexual assault or rape,' during an examination, according to 3rd District Court documents. Documents also said Poleate wrote the woman two heart-and-arrow-decorated letters saying he was hers 'for life.' Poleate had worked at the Utah State Prison in Draper only a few weeks, and was fired by the state Department of Corrections after the allegations were made. Robinson told Fuchs he was 'quite concerned about the reprisal' if his client were housed in the Draper facility. Corrections spokesman Jack Ford, however, said it was unlikely Poleate would be put in the facility's general population, even if he were sent to Draper. 'There's options,' Ford said. 'We can send him out of state or to a county jail.' |
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