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Man sexually assaulted in cell at D.C. court, records say

November 15, 2016 at 4:56 p.m. EST

An inmate waiting in a cell at D.C. Superior Court was sexually assaulted Friday by another defendant in an attack that was partly captured on security cameras and lasted 12 minutes, according to court records.

Prosecutors charged Jerome M. Holliway, 36, of the District with first-degree sexual abuse in the incident.

According to court charging documents, a witness in another cell told officers that Holliway choked and punched his 27-year-old cellmate. The witness said Holliway forced the other man to perform oral sex and then anal sex, according to the documents.

The documents said the video shows that Holliway, with his pants down, “leaps” on his cellmate and then drags the other man, who was then naked, to the front of the cell. The witness described Holliway as “the big dude” when recounting the attack to investigators.

When marshals arrived, Holliway was fully dressed and sitting on a bench in the cell, the documents state. The other man was naked and curled in a fetal position on the floor. He was taken to a hospital. The Washington Post generally does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Holliway told investigators that the sex was consensual, according to the documents.

David Neumann, a spokesman with the U.S. Marshals Service, said his office was conducting an internal review. He said that the alleged attack is being investigated by D.C. police and that officials also have notified the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General and the FBI.

“The USMS takes allegations of sexual abuse of prisoners in USMS care and custody very seriously,” Neumann said in a statement. “Since the incident is under investigation, we will not be able to comment further at this time.”

Neumann declined to say how often marshals are required to check on inmates who are waiting in holding cells or whether protocols were followed in this case.

“We won’t talk about staffing or their locations,” he said of the marshals.

In a statement, D.C. Superior Court spokeswoman Leah H. Gurowitz also declined to release additional details because of the ongoing investigation.

“The safety and security of all people who come to the courthouse and court facilities are a top concern of the D.C. Superior Court,” Gurowitz said.

The 27-year-old’s court-appointed attorney, Gloria Henderson, declined to comment on the case but said, “I can’t imagine he’s doing that well, having been raped.”

Henderson’s client was at the courthouse Friday for a mental-competence examination after an arrest for assault with a dangerous weapon. He had been charged after he allegedly cut a liquor-store employee with a box cutter during an altercation this month.

Holliway was in court Friday for an alleged parole violation. In 2009, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and put on three years of supervised probation for simple assault and obstruction of justice, according to court records.

Last month, Holliway was arrested for allegedly threatening a woman at an apartment in the 3900 block of R Street SE. Authorities said that with that arrest, he had violated the terms of his parole.

As part of the recent misdemeanor case, Holliway was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.

Before the alleged attack Friday, both defendants had appeared before a judge and were waiting in the cellblock to be transported back to D.C. jail, according to the documents.

Holliway is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 29 before Judge Lynn Leibovitz in the sexual assault case. The D.C. Public Defender Service, which represents Holliway, did not return a call for comment.