Oregon Prison Guard Sentenced for Sexual Misconduct with Inmate with Psychiatric Disability

A former correctional officer at the Coffee Creek Women’s Prison in Wilsonville, Oregon, Levi David Gray, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison on two counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct involving a female inmate.

Gray was sentenced in the Washington County Court on Friday, and will also serve five years on probation after his release from prison.

DOC Director Says Behavior was Reprehensible

In a statement on YouTube, the director of the Oregon Department of Correctional Services (DOC), Michael Reese says he is ‘deeply troubled’ by Gray’s ‘reprehensible behavior.’

Reese says sexual misconduct is not only unacceptable but particularly egregious in a correctional facility and that there is no place for the abuse of power dynamics in such environments.

Gray, who pleaded guilty to the two felony charges, engaged in sexual misconduct with a female prisoner with a psychiatric disability, according to the criminal indictment.

Takeaway

The Oregon DOC employs 4,600 people in 12 prisons across the state. It also controls two community corrections offices and several centralized support facilities.

There are more than 12,000 adults serving prison sentences of more than 12 months, and the DOC also supervises 24,000 offenders on felony supervision sentences.