Corrections officer charged with assaults

03/13/2009

MILWAUKEE -- An officer at the Milwaukee County House of Corrections has been charged with sexually assaulting two female prisoners in their cells.

The complaint filed Thursday in Circuit Court charges 28-year-old James Howard with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an inmate by a correctional officer and two counts of third-degree sexual assault.

The inmates told authorities that the assaults happened last Saturday. In both cases, they alleged the officer first approached the cell and slid a suggestive note under the door, then returned a short time later and committed the assault.

Both women are being held while awaiting trial.

A preliminary hearing for Howard is scheduled next Thursday.

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