L.A. jailer accused of sexually assaulting inmates

A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting six female inmates who said they had no choice but to comply with his demands for sex. Giancarlo Scotti, 31, is charged six felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of sexual activity with a detainee. The alleged sexual assaults are said to have occurred between March and September of 2017.

Prosecutors allege that Scotti, a 10-year-employee with the sheriff’s department, ordered two inmates to perform oral sex on him. He then escorted the women to the shower area of a bathroom and had "unlawful" sex with both women in the shower. In many states including California, the law states that inmates cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse with their jailers. Last year, two women filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department accusing Scotti of assaulting them. The lawsuit alleges the women felt they had no choice but to have sex with Scotti and that when they reported the assaults to jail officials they were punished rather than believed. What is most disturbing is the range of punishment Scotti faces. If convicted of all the charges, he faces up to seven years and four months in state prison. This is interesting because most rape and sexual assault defendants face from 10 years to life on sexual assault, but apparently not this cop. What’s important to know is anyone detained pretrial or incarcerated for a conviction is entitled to be free of sexual assault and any guard who is having sex with an inmate is breaking the law.