A Rikers Island correction officer raped a female inmate for more than 15 minutes while another officer watched, a new Manhattan federal lawsuit charges.
The woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” was on a Department of Correction bus inside the jail complex March 20 when a male inmate bribed a correction officer to leave him alone with her and the pair had apparently consensual sexual contact, according to the legal papers.
But then the officer got back on the bus, told the male inmate to get lost, and raped the woman, the suit says.
“Doe considered screaming out but chose not to scream because she realized that any officers who might respond from the [prison] were apt to be male and Doe was frightened that they might assault her as well,” her suit states.
During the rape, another correction officer got on the bus. The rapist allegedly said he wanted to “give [him] a show.”
The suit accuses Rikers of having a culture of rape and seeks unspecified damages.
“We will review the specific claims once we receive the complaint,” said a city Law Department spokesman.