Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Monday, Jan. 24, that a Rikers Island inmate has been charged with attempted rape in the first degree and with additional charges for sexually abusing a nurse, and for forcibly touching a female Department of Correction officer in the jail.

 

In announcing the charges, Clark said, “The defendant allegedly forcibly touched a female correction officer. Hours after that incident, the defendant allegedly attempted to rape a nurse assigned to the facility. He has been indicted for these appalling acts against women who work in the city’s jail.”

 

Clark went on to say that the defendant, Michael Cleaver, 56, an inmate in Rikers Island, was arraigned on attempted rape in the first degree, first-degree sexual abuse, first and second-degree unlawful imprisonment, two counts of forcible touching and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo. Cleaver continues to be held in custody and is due back in court on April 6.

 

According to the investigation, on Nov. 12, 2021, at approximately 2:22 a.m. in the Eric M. Taylor Center (EMTC), located on Rikers Island, the defendant allegedly lunged at a 39-year-old female correction officer and touched her in her breast area. At approximately 4:12 p.m., also in the EMTC, Cleaver allegedly forced the second victim, a 51-year-old nurse, into a room and locked the door. He allegedly placed the victim in a bearhug and pushed her to the ground. He then placed his hand into her pants and pulled her clothes down, exposing part of her lower body. The victim yelled for help and another inmate broke the lock on the door and punched the defendant several times in an effort to get him off the victim. 

 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Larry Pisahov of the Rikers Island prosecution bureau, and Senior Investigative Assistant District Attorney Miriam Bell-Blair of the Rikers Island prosecution bureau, under the supervision of Francis Alberts, chief of the Rikers Island prosecution bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the investigations division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the investigations division.

 

Clark thanked Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Giunta, deputy chief of the special victims division, for her assistance, as well as investigators, Anthony Scoma, Paul Smith, and Walter Holmes, all of the Department of Correction Intelligence Bureau, for their work on the case.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

Norwood News reported on a separate indictment on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, of a Bronx man, following a separate assault on Rikers Island on a DOC officer. According to that investigation, on Oct. 13, 2021 at approximately 1.12 p.m. in the George R. Vierno Center of Rikers Island jail, the defendant in question allegedly approached the victim, brandishing a sharp metal object, several inches in length, and held the weapon to the officer’s neck.

 

Separately, we also reported on concerns for the safety of DOC officers at the jail in the broader context of concern over conditions at the jail for the incarcerated population.

 

Meanwhile, last December, we also reported on a resource fair held in the Bronx which was organized by Clark to help the formerly incarcerated get back on their feet.