Buckeye Reporter

A former deputy from Youngstown, Ohio, Damon K. Perry, has been sentenced to more than nine years in federal prison for sexually abusing a female inmate while employed at a detention facility. U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent handed down a sentence of 112 months after Perry pleaded guilty in May to two counts of sexual abuse of a detainee and two counts of sexual abuse.

According to court documents, Perry admitted to engaging in non-consensual sexual acts with the same federal detainee at the Mahoning County Jail on two separate occasions in November 2023. The jail houses inmates under contract with a federal law enforcement agency.

U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio stated, “Mr. Perry’s abusive and appalling actions against a detainee were a violation of her basic human rights. Using his power of authority to deliberately take advantage of a woman, who he was charged with supervising, is dishonorable and despicable.” He also thanked the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General for its investigation into the matter.

The first incident occurred on November 9, 2023, followed by another on November 30, both times when the victim was under Perry’s supervision as a detainee.

The investigation leading to Perry’s indictment was conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Yasmine Makridis prosecuted the case for the Northern District of Ohio.