6Accused perv jailer in limbo
2-yr. indict delay as DA probe drags on
A Rikers Island correction officer described by an inmate as a “serial sexual abuser” has earned more than $100,000 while waiting two years to be indicted, papers reveal.
Raimier Clay — who also served as a pastor in Newark — was credibly accused by four different inmates of sexual abuse, the Department of Investigation determined in October 2016.
That month, the agency referred Clay’s case to the Bronx district attorney’s office “for consideration of criminal charges.”
Over two years later, Clay, 44, is still waiting on what his attorney described this month in court papers as an “anticipated” indictment.
Clay has been collecting a paycheck in the meantime while doing minimal work. Shortly after an inmate alleged on Dec. 29, 2015, that Clay had sexually abused him, the correction officer was put on modified duty.
The designation means Clay has not had contact with inmates — but he has earned around $127,000, payroll records show.
A spokeswoman for the Bronx DA’s office declined to comment on why Clay had not been charged.
The details regarding the criminal investigation of Clay were revealed in an ongoing civil suit filed by the 44-yearold Rikers inmate who accused him of sexual abuse.
Attorney Cynthia Devasia, who is representing Clay, wrote in a Dec. 11 letter that his criminal indictment was “anticipated.” She did not respond to an inquiry. Claims brought against the city by the inmate were settled for $150,000. City attorneys are not representing Clay.
“The city has zero tolerance for any kind of abuse in its facilities. We did not represent this officer in the civil case, which has recently settled. The resolution was in the city’s best interest in light of DOI’s substantiated allegations of officer misconduct and other legal factors,” a Law Department spokesman said.
DOI papers show that 22 other inmates who backed up the alleged victim’s story. Three of those inmates said they too had abused by Clay, papers show.
The 44-year-old inmate alleged that Clay prowled a wing of the Anna M. Kross Center. The hulking 6-foot-4 correction officer offered gifts like extra food, perfumes, lotions, dorags and a T-shirt in exchange for letting him fondle the inmate beginning in September 2015, according to papers.
After several encounters, the inmate said he began to distance himself from Clay.
“(The inmate) stated that he began to realize that he was not actually involved in a relationship and that Clay was only using him for his own pleasure,” the Department of Investigation wrote.
“(The inmate) believes that Clay began to sense his growing unwillingness to participate in the sexual contact.”
That decision allegedly came with a price.
On Oct. 10, 2015, Clay told the inmate to take off his clothes and pleasure himself in his cell, according to papers. Clay vowed that he would come watch — but instead another inmate showed up and began laughing at him, according to DOI.
Once the inmate got his clothes back on and ran out of his cell, five or six inmates jumped him, according to papers. One of the attackers beat the inmate with a bar of soap in a sock. Clay then filed a report falsely indicating that the inmate was the perpetrator, according to papers.
Three other inmates said Clay had abused them in similar fashion, offering favors, like letting them use his cell phone, in exchange for indulging his perversions.
Clay told one inmate “his wife did not satisfy him enough,” according to papers. Another said Clay talked about the attractive men he’d seen on a recent vacation.
“Officer Clay openly flirted with people incarcerated in (Anna M. Kross Center) , especially gay or transgender individuals,” the inmate said in his suit.
The inmate’s attorney, Mitchell Lowenthall, did not know why Clay had not been charged. But he emphasized that his client’s allegations had been deemed credible by DOI. The inmate is now serving a nine-year sentence for assault at Wende Correctional Facility, where he is no longer enduring abuse, according to his attorney.
A Department of Correction spokesman said that complaints of sexual abuse in city jails had declined in 2018 thanks to new training and policies.
There were 240 staff-on-inmate allegations of sexual harassment or abuse between July and December in 2017, compared with 152 allegations in the first six months of 2018, a 36% decline.
Clay, who is originally from Memphis, Tenn., did not respond to an inquiry.