Alabama Women's Prison Supervisor Demanded Sex From Inmate, Saying 'You'll Never Go Home': Prosecutors

Mar. 15, 2025

Laquentin Brantley in November 2024 mugshot.Photo:Elmore County Sheriff

Elmore County Sheriff

A 34-year-old correctional officer has been arrested on sex crime charges against an inmate at an Alabama prison that has been under federal oversight for such crimes since 2015.

Sgt. Laquentin Brantley is being held at Elmore County Jail in Wetumpka, Ala., on a $15,000 bond on charges of first-degree sodomy and custodial sexual conduct, according to onlinebooking records.

The inmate – whose name has not been released – alleged that Brantley encountered her on the morning of Oct. 18 when she was dressed in a tank top without a bra and demanded, “Let me see ‘em,” meaning her breasts. “Let me see them or you’ll never go home,” AL.com reported from the charging documents.

The prisoner followed the sergeant’s orders, and he allegedly touched her chest and genitals. At around 1:00 a.m. on the following day, Oct. 19, Brantley allegedly forced her to give him oral sex.

PEOPLE could not immediately confirm if Brantley had entered a plea to the charges or retained a lawyer, but theAssociated Pressreports that the sergeant has been placed on mandatory leave.

As part of the agreement, the prison – which had been outfitted with a “state-of-the-art camera system” would have camera placement locations “reviewed at least annually to ensure that they are serving their goal of maximizing supervision.”

In astatementat the time, then-Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said the agreement had been “designed to address and eliminate the culture of abuse that Tutwiler’s women prisoners have suffered from and endured for years.”

Earlier this year the Department of Justice decided to roll back its oversight, the AP reports.

PEOPLE contacted Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Tara Ratz for comment on how the new charges could affect that decision. She did not respond in time for publication.

source: people.com