A Rikers Island inmate has been handed a five-year prison term for the sexual abuse of a transgender inmate, following a coercive attack involving a makeshift weapon. The sentencing, which occurred on December 16, also encompasses two charges regarding separate incidents with correction officers, shared the Bronx District Attorney's Office in a recent statement.
"Sexual violence against someone in custody is heinous and we prosecute it to the fullest extent," stated Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. Injured during the cell's tactical search when Kelvin Williams, 36, was sentenced, which also covered an incident on April 23, where he obstructed governmental administration and another charge for forcibly touching a correction officer on January 26, as per the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
The convicted individual, Kelvin Williams, pleaded guilty on November 12, to the charges including first-degree Sexual Assault. According to the investigation, the attack took place on the evening of May 12, 2022, in the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island. Captured by video footage, Williams is seen threatening the victim with a makeshift ice pick, leaving them with the horrendous ultimatum to "choose being stabbed or sexually assaulted," leading to forced oral and anal sex.
The Bronx District Attorney's Office acknowledged the work of various individuals, including Trial Preparation Assistants and members of the Department of Correction Special Investigations Unit, who worked on the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Pleading guilty to a Manhattan case for seven years in jail and three years post-release supervision, the five-year sentence for Williams will run consecutively for second-degree Rape and second-degree Criminal Sexual Act against a 13-year-old girl.
New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie expressed gratitude towards the Bronx DA and her team, underlining the department's "zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse and harassment." The commissioner vowed to use "any means at our disposal to protect the vulnerable populations in our care," according to the statement obtained from the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
