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D.C. man gets more than 17 years for sex assault on inmate in courthouse cellblock

June 9, 2017 at 4:52 p.m. EDT
Jerome M. Holliway. (D.C. Superior Court)

The graphic security camera video of the sexual assault in the courthouse holding cell was unlike anything the veteran D.C. Superior Court judge had ever seen.

“It was a horror movie,” Judge Jose Lopez said Friday, describing video showing one inmate dragging another inmate across the floor before beating and choking the victim and tearing off his jail jumpsuit. The attacker sexually assaulted the cellmate. When it was over, the naked victim lay on the floor, curled into in a fetal position.

Lopez sentenced Jerome Holliway, 37, the man convicted in that Nov. 11 attack, to 17½ years in prison.

The attack, which lasted 12 minutes, prompted questions about how the crime could be carried out without attracting the attention of U.S. marshals, who handle security in the courthouse. Marshals entered the cell five minutes after the assault had ended and found the victim.

Man pleads guilty in sexual assault at D.C. courthouse holding cell

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service have declined to speak at length about the incident and said that it remains under review by the Justice Department. But a spokesman has said that some security changes have been made to ensure that a similar attack does not occur.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elana Suttenberg, who specializes in sex crimes in the District, described the attack as “horrific” and “viciously gratuitous” on Friday.

Holliway, of Southeast Washington, a father of six, stood next to his public defender and apologized. “I feel horrible about the situation,” said Holliway, whose wrists and ankles were shackled. “I don’t know where that came from. I was off my meds. I just feel horrible.”

According to court documents, Holliway has battled mental-health issues for decades, including post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. He often substituted his regular medication with illegal drugs such as PCP, marijuana and cocaine.

Holliway also has a lengthy criminal past, including convictions for selling drugs, assault and obstruction of justice in a murder case. In March, he pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse in the courthouse attack.

In pre-sentencing interviews with court officials, Holliway said that on the day of the attack, voices in his head told him that his cellmate was a child molester and “kept telling me to do something to him.” In a previous interview with The Washington Post, however, the 27-year-old victim said Holliway had said he wanted to see if the cellmate was a police officer.

Holliway was in court that November day because he had been arrested for allegedly making threats against his estranged wife and violating the terms of his parole. The victim was awaiting a court-ordered psychological evaluation after his arrest for allegedly attacking a man with a box cutter.

The victim was not at Friday’s hearing. In the prior interview, he said that as soon as he heard three marshals announce they were leaving for a lunch break, Holliway attacked.

“He almost killed me. I thought I was going to die. I tried to fight back,” the man said. “I tried to scream for help. I was panicked.” He was hospitalized for two days after the attack.

Victim in courthouse cellblock sexual attack speaks out

Holliway, according to court records, is 6 feet 6 and weighs 290 pounds. The victim is 6 feet and 155 pounds.

Lopez and Holliway’s attorney, David Knight, both acknowledged Holliway’s battles with sexual abuse and drug use. According to court records, Holliway was sexually molested repeatedly between the ages of 7 and 15 by two older male family members. When Holliway told his mother about the abuse, he said his mother ignored him and instead ordered him to sell drugs on the streets of Washington.

“No one can undo the trauma and the horror Mr. Holliway has suffered in his lifetime,” Knight said.

Lopez agreed and ordered Holliway, who will also have to register as a sex offender, to undergo psychological and drug counseling while in prison. Holliway, Lopez said, “fell beneath the proverbial cracks of social and emotional and psychological development. His circumstances created a dangerous person.”

Holliway also was sentenced for threatening his estranged wife in a voice mail. Lopez ordered that he serve 180 days in jail, which will run concurrently with his sexual assault sentence.