Lexington correctional officer arrested for allegedly raping inmate
A Lexington correctional officer has been arrested for allegedly raping an inmate multiple times.
LEXINGTON, Okla. (KFOR) — A Lexington correctional officer has been arrested for allegedly raping an inmate multiple times.
Not even 24 hours after Representative JJ Humphrey called the state to once more investigate the Department of Corrections, another alleged rape took place inside the Lexington Prison, causing Humphrey to once more demand action to be taken.
"Oh, absolutely not, you shouldn't be subject to rape," Rep. Humphrey said. "You should not be, and I was infuriated. Not long back where they said, well, these are isolated incidents. If you're the person being raped, it's not an isolated incident."
Last Wednesday, Humphrey called for an outside agency to investigate the Department of Corrections as deaths, overdoses, and rapes continue to rise in Oklahoma prisons.
The very next day, Jennifer Root, a corrections officer at the Lexington Correctional Center was arrested and charged with three counts of forcible sodomy, and two counts of sexual battery for allegedly having sex with an inmate.
According to the arrest report, Root told investigators she engaged in sexual activity with the same inmate on at least five occasions; at least one was caught on video.
"When you see one of these cases a year, not such a big deal, but when you start seeing them back to back to back to back, and when you start seeing the number of deaths we've had, when you start seeing the number of OD's we have, then you know there's a problem."
We reached out to the DOC who told News 4:
"We do not tolerate this type of behavior from any staff member. "It is our mission to provide the safest environment possible for those incarcerated in Oklahoma. We will continue to remove bad actors and spotlight our dedicated staff who fulfill our mission."
Humphrey is still calling for an outside investigation into the DOC, saying these incidents will continue to happen if something isn't done.