A former Metropolitan Correctional Center officer who was found guilty of sexually assaulting prisoners earlier this year was hit with a federal suit Friday alleging he abused three more inmates — forcing one woman to perform sex acts on her cellmate as he watched.
Colin Akparanta, 43, pleaded guilty in March in Manhattan federal court to sexually abusing seven female inmates — after he was hit with a nine-count indictment that accused him of smuggling in contraband to dole out to his victims.
Karilie Herrera, Franchesca Morales and Carolyn Richardson allege that they are among at least 14 inmates he abused since becoming a correctional officer in 2004.
Herrera alleges that Akparanta sexually assaulted her four times a week from November 2017 through December 2018, according to the complaint.
When Morales was placed in the same cell as Herrera, Akparanta allegedly “forced Ms. Morales to perform sexual acts on Ms. Herrera and/or their third cellmate in their shared cell while he watched or masturbated,” wrote the women’s attorney Jaehyun Oh.
He allegedly threatened to put them in solitary confinement if they talked or refused to submit to his sexual demands.
Akparanta allegedly took the women to break areas known as Bubble rooms that are visible to security cameras, or he would order lockdowns so he could abuse them without interruption, according to the suit.
Akparanta, who is awaiting sentencing, was fired in 2018 over allegations of misconduct.
In August, three other victims filed a similar suit against Akparanta.
Failures at the troubled Manhattan facility led to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in his cell while awaiting sex trafficking charges in 2019.
Metropolitan Correctional Center pre-employment psychological screenings aren’t all they should be. This probably applies to 99% of correctional staff screenings, which, by the way, should be periodic, not just a one time event, along with pop-up drug testing.