A former private prisoner transport officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating a male pretrial detainee’s civil rights by sexually assaulting him, officials stated Wednesday.
According to the plea agreement, at the time of the offense, Dewayne Lewis Dudley, 56, worked as a private prisoner transport officer for Blue Raven Services.
As a private prisoner transport officer, Dudley performed the government function of picking up individuals who were arrested on out-of-state warrants and transporting those individuals back to the jurisdictions that issued the warrants.
On Aug. 26, 2021, Dudley picked up the victim, a male pretrial detainee, from a jail in Booneville, Indiana, to transport him to a jail in Los Lunas, New Mexico.
On Aug. 27, 2021, before arriving in New Mexico, Dudley stopped the transport vehicle at a Holiday Inn Express, located in Marshfield, Missouri, where he rented a room.
Dudley brought the handcuffed victim into the hotel room and told him to shower. After the victim showered, Dudley pointed a gun at the victim and told him to undress.
Dudley then proceeded to grope the victim’s genitals.
When the victim’s penis did not become erect, Dudley handcuffed himself to the victim, before going to sleep.
Several hours later, Dudley resumed transporting the victim, before stopping the transport van at Dudley’s apartment in Claremore, Oklahoma, according to court documents.
Against the victim’s protests, Dudley brought the handcuffed victim inside his apartment. While inside his apartment, Dudley again groped the victim’s genitals, causing the victim bodily injury.
The victim said, “No!” and was able to break free and run outside of Dudley’s apartment.
As part of the plea agreement, Dudley admitted that the victim did not consent to any of the sexual conduct, that there was no legitimate law enforcement purpose for it, and that the sexual misconduct resulted in bodily injury to the victim and included kidnapping.
“The defendant kidnapped and sexually assaulted a man entrusted to his care and custody, exploiting his authority and depriving this victim of his constitutional right to bodily integrity,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This sentence sends a clear message that the Justice Department is committed to protecting victims of sexual violence carried out at the hands of law enforcement officials. The privatization of positions in law enforcement does not affect our determination to hold these individuals accountable when they violate our federal civil rights laws.”
The FBI Oklahoma City Field Office investigated this case.
Trial Attorney Laura Gilson of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Compton for the Northern District of Oklahoma prosecuted this case.