Police: Connecticut prison guard charged in sexual assault of inmate

EAST LYME — A correction officer who worked at York Correctional Institution has been accused of sexually assaulting an inmate, state police said Tuesday.

Wesley Applegate, a 38-year-old New London man, has been charged with second-degree sexual assault, state police said. Applegate was held on

$50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Applegate, a correction officer since 2008, was placed on administrative leave on March 10, Department of Correction officials said.

“The events surrounding Wesley Applegate’s arrest are still actively being investigated by the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Department of Correction, as a result no additional information can be released at this time,” DOC said in a statement.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a witness reported seeing Applegate having sex with an inmate on Nov. 15 of last year in the officer mess hall. The witness told investigators she reported the incident because she feared the victim was being raped, the affidavit said.

In a statement, the victim initially denied having sex with Applegate, according to the affidavit. She later admitted the two had sex, but said she did not feel forced to do so, the affidavit reads.

During the investigation, state police reported that Applegate was transferred to Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville so he would not have contact with female inmates, the affidavit said.

When investigators returned to York Correctional Institution, the victim said she and Applegate had a physical relationship over the past year, the affidavit read.

In a statement, the victim said they had “kissed pretty much every time he has worked” and had other sexual contact in the officers’ mess hall five or six times in the past year, according to the affidavit.

The victim told investigators “it seemed he did not want to pressure me to do anything that I was not comfortable with,” and she did not see their relationship as anything beyond physical in nature, the affidavit read.

When police interviewed Applegate, they said he denied sexual involvement with the victim, but did not want to submit his DNA for testing, the affidavit said.

When investigators went on March 8 to serve a search warrant on Applegate for his DNA, they were informed he did not show up for his shift, the affidavit said. He was then scheduled to take vacation time for the following two weeks, according to the affidavit.

The investigators then applied for an arrest warrant. On March 29, Applegate was taken into custody in Wethersfield and transported to Troop H barracks, where he was processed and charged.