Former Pickens County corrections officer sentenced to prison

By Damaris Epps, WVUA 23 News Reporter

A former Federal Bureau of Prisons corrections officer has been sentenced to federal prison for sexually abusing a female inmate.

Robert D. Smith, 39, was sentenced Thursday in federal court to 24 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release.

Smith is charged with sexually abusing an inmate while he was a jailer at the Aliceville Federal Correctional Institution.

According to court documents, during one of his shifts in 2019, Smith deliberately engaged in a non-consensual sexual act with an inmate who was in his authoritative custody. He did it in his office, away from cameras, other inmates and officers.

Smith also admitted to abusing another inmate on another occasion in 2018 in the mechanical room, which he accessed with a key, also separate from cameras or other wandering eyes.

Smith's sickening and deliberate abuse of power is not the first example of sexual abuse by authority figures in prison, and justice officials want to highlight their efforts to prevent this type of abuse. criminal activity by holding the perpetrators more than responsible for their actions.

“Beyond the sight of the cameras and the eyes of potential witnesses, this defendant sexually abused and assaulted vulnerable female inmates and believed he would get away with his crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Law Division. civilians of the Ministry of Justice. “This case should send an unequivocal message to correctional officials: we have zero tolerance for sexual assault against women in prisons. We encourage survivors of these heinous crimes to report acts of official misconduct and violence to the FBI. The Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue those who violate the civil and constitutional rights of people held in correctional facilities.

The case was investigated by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Northern Alabama Michael Royster and Attorney Anna Gotfryd, of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division.

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