Rikers Island Inmates Work Together To Save Prison Guard From Being Raped

A group of Rikers Island inmates banded together and saved a female prison guard from being raped by another inmate. A prisoner was inside a locked room with the guard on Saturday night and was about to attack the female correction officer when other inmates went into action to save her.

The NY Daily News reported that 27-year-old Raleek Young was locked inside a vestibule with the officer inside the Anna M. Kross Center on Saturday evening. He dragged her into a nearby bathroom and blocked the way so she couldn’t open the security door.

The 5-foot-9 inmate, weighing in at 290 pounds, took his pants down and began to masturbate while choking the officer out.

That was when other inmates started tearing away Plexiglass windows on the outside of the watch-post. Once enough of the Plexiglass was stripped down, a skinny inmate was able to get through a crack and unlock the door.

At that point, the other Rikers Island inmates took down Young and held him down until officers arrived.

“The matter is under investigation,” said Correction Department spokeswoman Eve Kessler.

The Grio reported that the entire incident was caught on surveillance video and that is currently being watched and investigated.

Norman Seabrook, Correction Officers Benevolent Association President, said he believed that the attack could have possibly been much worse. He stated that the inmates intervening possibly saved the guard’s life.

“I appreciate (them) helping a sister officer because that could have been their mother, wife or sister,” he said and added that 90 percent of the inmates “are there to do their time and go home.”

Raleek Young is currently serving a five-to-10 year prison sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl. He was just arraigned on Monday on new charges including attempted rape, forcible touching, assault and harassment, and sexual abuse.

The president of the officers’ union was not happy that Young was not arrested and charged immediately. He involved himself in the situation when officers at the facility refused to head back to their post as they protested the higher-ups in Rikers labeling the incident as a routine “use of force” and not a sexual assault.

“There must be accountability,” Seabrook said Monday.

“Officers are assaulted every day, and [Bronx DA Robert Johnson] has the audacity to say, ‘Not today, bring him back at another time.’ I will not tolerate it. I will not stand for it.”

Seabrook was able to convince officers to go back to their posts.

The prison guard that was saved from being raped at Rikers Island did go to the hospital after the attack. She was treated, but suffered no serious injuries, and those at the prison have some of the other inmates to thank for that.

[Image via NYS Deparment of Correctional Service]