A former correctional officer was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for sexually assaulting three inmates at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland.
Owen Nesmith, 54, of Baltimore, faced charges of deprivation of rights and making a false statement, which were all related to sexual contact with three inmates, a Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office news release said.
Nesmith was among six correctional officers who were indicted in 2019 in a scheme involving bribes to smuggle contraband such as drugs and cellphones in the prison.
In his guilty plea, Nesmith admitted that he sexually assaulted three inmates between 2005 and 2017, depriving them of their “civil rights by sexually assaulting them,” prosecutors said. He initially denied having any inappropriate relationships or sexual contact with any inmates when questioned by law enforcement. Nesmith later admitted that was false, prosecutors said.
Following his prison sentence, Nesmith will be on supervised release for three years.
