An ex-prison guard is denying charges that he sexually assaulted a male inmate at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vermont.
21-year-old Cameron Morin pleaded not guilty to felony charges of sexual assault-no consent, sexual exploitation of an inmate, and lewd and lascivious conduct this week in a Windsor County Superior criminal court.
According to Morin’s attorney, James Valente, a police affidavit filed against his client doesn’t actually say the inmate alleging the assault never consented.
“There is no description with respect to consent, indicating either a lack of consent or that there was no consent,” Valente said.
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That’s a pretty thin argument.
And, considering the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act declares any sexual relations between prison staff and inmates abuse, as prison staff and inmates are in inherently unequal positions, it’s a moot point.
Valente also tried saying that the type of sexual contact Morin allegedly engaged in with the inmate isn’t listed in the definition of “sexual contact.”
“There’s no probable cause because sexual act is pretty narrowly defined,” Valente argued. “And that definition does not include contact between the hand and penis.”
Another very thin argument.
Meanwhile, prosector Heidi Remick disagreed with Valente on the facts, pointing the part of the affidavit that alleged Morin didn’t just touch the inmate’s penis with his hand, he also performed oral sex on him against his wishes.
“The complainant said that he went along with the defendant’s advances because he feared being placed into solitary confinement and also because defendant allegedly threatened complainant’s family,” Remick said.
Remick went on to explain that the inmate told detectives his cellmate pretended to be asleep while the assault happened, but was actually witness to the abuse. Afterwards, the cellmate, along with several other prisoners, began “blackmailing” Morin, demanding he smuggle cigarettes into the prison in exchange for their silence.
According to the Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, they received a tip in December 2018 about a complaint made against Morin to the Department of Corrections investigations hotline by an inmate at the facility.
When detectives approached him, he immediately slipped up by referring to the inmate by name, even though investigators never actually identified him.
Morin then admitted he had touched the inmate’s “private area” with his hand and “admitted to smuggling in cigarettes for inmates because he was being blackmailed.”
He was arrested at the prison on January 24 and placed on administrative leave the following day before resigning from his job later that week.
Speaking after this week’s court hearing, Valente said, “We just want to remind the public, who has already heard about charges that are fairly salacious, that Mr. Morin hasn’t been found guilty of anything.”
Asked whether his client was denying any sexual contact happened between himself and the inmate, Valente simply said, “No comment.”
If convicted, Morin could face life in prison.
Related: Bisexual guard reveals horrific homophobic abuse suffered inside high security prison
jcoberkrom
Didn’t not consent???? What a warped mind.
Juanjo
Consent would be an issue if this was not a situation involving an inmate and an officer. The disparity of power between the two means that consent really is not an issue. As the inmate says, he was afraid he would be put in solitary or harm might come to family members.
@HarryB at q-meet.us
Real truth
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
He had other places to do this besides the cell where cellmate “was sleeping” More likely it was consensual between both inmates until the demands for contraband became too excessive.
And how can rapists in the street not get life in prison, while he is subject to that sentence??
Juanjo
And you know this how? Were you there?
GetOffMyInternet
@Juanjo Dude, it’s a theory the commenter has. Why are you always looking for an argument? Instead, share with us your own theory in the events that transpired.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Getoffmyinternet:
Thank you, WELL SAID!!
Brian
I would have thought “more likely” was the giveaway that no, you weren’t there. I guess some people need everything explained to them like a 5 year old.
Aromaeus
Inmates can’t consent to sex with the guards it is a clear imbalance of power.
Brian
I don’t think saying that consent was never discussed is necessarily a thin argument. I have never had a sexual situation where we formally and verbally expressed consent, and I think that’s true of most people.
Having said that, I don’t think consent should even be an issue in this case to begin with. I don’t know what the laws are regarding prison employees having sex with prisoners, but it should be like statutory rape, where it’s illegal whether the prisoner gives consent or not. Hopefully that’s already the case.
Rock-N-RollHS
Oh Mizz Divine, you lollypop trollop, what’s a horny inmate to do around a hot guard in tight pants. Such cruel and unusual punishment indeed.
Ashke113
Couldn’t find or even pay for a penis outside the prison? Shit even homeless guys need love to……you picky bastard
inbama
You don’t think homeless guys can pull a Me Too, too?
djmcgamester
A prisoner consenting to sex with a prison guard? Sketchy, at best. The guards have power over the prisoners and that makes it problematic. I’m not saying consensual sex is impossible by any means but I can see how the line between consent and power is very thin.
Brian
Did anyone notice that this is yet another article on a serious criminal subject where Queerty decided that shirtless photos were the way to go?
jsmnyny24
No consenst. What an idiot legal argument. Its kinda sounded hot regardless….
jsmnyny24
No consenst. What an idiot legal argument. Its kinda sounded hot regardless…. if he consented of course.
inbama
Given he as the receiver, the “unequal power is rape” seems silly.
Here in Alabama, prisoners routinely trade sex for cigarettes and snacks. Sounds to me he made the mistake thinking he could play, too, and got in over his head.
No pun intended.
Aires the Ram
This story is seems full of holes to me. Yeah, prison guard-prisoner sex shouldn’t happen, but unless you just got bounced off the turnip truck and hit your head, you know that it happens at every prison.
That being said, I am looking at this as: ‘a guard and a prisoner in this all male charged environment, traded hand-jobs and/or blow-jobs, and somehow the cat got out of the bag, for whatever reason.’
Remember the old Sonny & Cher song, “And the beat goes on”?? It’s running through my head at the moment.
ruffmarine
Wow life imprisonment! That was a very expensive encounter or encounters. I do feel that life imprisonment is a little extreme.