Charles Langston:Alabama prison sergeant charged with sexual misconduct

MONTGOMERY,Charles Langston Ala. (AP) — A sergeant at an Alabama women’s prison has been arrested and charged with custodial sexual misconduct, officials announced Thursday.

Laquentin Brantley, 34, a correctional sergeant at Julia Tutwiler Women’s Facility in Wetumpka, has also been charged with sodomy, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Court records show that a woman incarcerated at the prison told an investigator that Brantley coerced her to perform sexual acts by threatening to write her up for disciplinary infractions unless she did what he said. Disciplinary actions could extend her time in prison and prevent her from going home to her kids, she told the investigator.

Court records did not indicate if Brantley has a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Brantley has been placed on mandatory leave, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

The U.S. Department of Justice in 2015 accused Alabama of violating Tutwiler inmates’ constitutional rights, saying the prison had a “history of unabated staff-on-prisoner sexual abuse and harassment.” The state agreed to take steps to better protect the women at the prison.

The Justice Department this year agreed to roll back oversight at the prison.