Maybe we should take over the jail

Published - May, 11, 2006

Teen accuses inmate of rape


Amy Sowder
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

An Escambia County Jail inmate has been charged with raping two other inmates -- one of them a 15-year-old boy who had been convicted and jailed as an adult.

Emery Curtis Lewis, 33, of Ocean Springs, Miss., is accused of sexually assaulting the teenager at night when the lights were out in their 22-bed quadrant for adult inmates, former jail director Dennis Williams said.

The teen was convicted of arson last year and sentenced as an adult. He was awaiting transfer to state prison for violating a house arrest sentence.

Every penal institution in Florida houses children sentenced as adults with inmates 18 and older, Williams said.

Lewis was charged on April 28 with eight counts of sexual battery against the teen. On Wednesday, he was charged with sexual battery against an adult inmate. No other information was available about that charge.

The teenager told investigators that Lewis raped him repeatedly, but the boy did not immediately report the alleged assaults to corrections officers, Williams said.

Williams was director of the jail for five years. He became director of planning and research for the Sheriff's Office last Friday.

Jail employees separated the rape suspect and teenager immediately after learning of the sexual assault allegations, Williams said.

On Wednesday, the boy was transferred to the state prison reception facility in Lake Butler. The transfer was not related to the rape allegations, Williams said.

The incident raises the question of the appropriate jail facility for children who have been tried and sentenced as adults.

The State Attorney's Office often elects to try juveniles who commit serious repeated crimes as adults. In most cases, they are also sentenced as adults.

Assistant State Attorney John Simon handled the arson case involving the teenager and a second juvenile defendant in 2005.

"The State Attorney's Office elected to prosecute the defendants as adults because of the serious nature of the charges," Simon said at the time.

He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Harry Stopp, the court-appointed attorney for the other defendant, strongly objected at the time to the children being treated as adults.

When Stopp learned of the rape charges on Wednesday, he said he was not surprised.

"What did they think would happen when you put young boys in an adult jail with men?" he asked. "It's terrible. It's medieval."

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There might have been two boys raped at the jail. That's hard to believe in this day and age. To put 15 year olds in with 30 year old sex offenders is a crime in itself.

Well, lets hear your suggestion for how to fix this problem...no room to seperate anybody any more than they already are, no money to buikd new facilities, crime continues to grow, what would you have us do?

You are making excuses..you couldn't make it as a real cop so you adopt a mentality that all criminals get what they deserve. You think all people that get arrested are dirtbags and thugs and you have no compassion. You have been at the jail too long and have adopted a "gang" mentality and you correction officers treat the incarerated people like animals, worse than animals. What's your solution?

Fist, I dont have all the solutions...I just dont ***** and moan about something until I have some odeas on how to fix things. Whining alone does nothing.

And I am not a CO at the jail, so I dont know what to say about that one. I think that the vast majority of those arrested and in jail ARE dirtbags, but that doesnt mean I dont have compassion.

here's a thought. When is male sexual contact in jail not a rape? when it is consensual. The correct charge should have been unlawful carnal knowledge with a person under the age of 18, not rape. The real facts are the "victim" was not a victim. His sexual exploits were discovered when others complained about the noise these two were making...Like most things in Law enforcement, unless you been there everthing else is media hype and wild speculation. Facts, jail is crowded. Juveniles are sent there by a judge after a state attorney certifies them as an adult. Just in case you were wondering...

Then what about the sexual battery charge he is carrying for that of an adult inmate? Your not telling me that was concensual? I guess you don't make noise when your being as* raped. But I wouldn't know, why don't you tell me about it?

What about the weapon the rapist had?

and your point is?. The focus of the discussion is a so called "rape" of a juvenile. What does that have to do with an adult making a complaint of sexual assault? Or a "weapon" in the jail?
In case you didn't know it. most people go to jail for reasons other than singing to loud in the choir.

Nothing changes the fact the jail is crowded, the judges don't care and the county commissioners have not built new jail space as promised during the vote for the half cent sales tax.

Nothing changes the fact the jail is crowded, the judges don't care and the county commissioners have not built new jail space as promised during the vote for the half cent sales tax.

Technically, the Commission did build new inmate housing. It was built at the County Road Prison. They also built the new work release center.

Regardless, the jail is severely overcrowded and MORE space for the non-sentenced inmate is desperately needed.

Yes, the work release center was such a success....

just like the murder we had a few months ago in montclaire by an escapee they didnt even know was missing.

and keeton house, that place is great. i've never seen so many high treatment-seeking individuals.

jail is the only thing that works. you want to stop crime? build enough jails to lock up the people who deserve it for the amount of time they truly deserve.

i dont like the idea of "wharehousing" people, but lets face it. som lifetime criminals, and some others such as sex crimes, just cant be rehabilitated and after showing they are destined for a life of crime, its time to put them away until they are too old to steal or screw anything.