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Former corrections officer describes brutal prison rape that led to no charges for alleged attacker
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ST. GABRIEL- A former Elayn Hunt Corrections Officer is speaking out for the first time after she said she was brutally raped by inmate Erick Dehart over the summer.
In a shocking twist, Deshunta Miller was indicted for malfeasance in office for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a different inmate. Dehart was not charged in the alleged attack on Miller.
Miller and her attorneys denied that she had a sexual relationship with another inmate and accused the Department of Corrections of trying to distract from the truth in an effort to shift liability away from them.
Miller said she was working in a unit in July with 65 male inmates when one of them grabbed a shank and forced her into a restroom. She said what happened next was haunting.
"He began to take my clothes off, and he brutally raped me," Miller recalled.
Miller said the beeper that the officers are given for emergencies was not working at the time.
"I was there for an hour and nobody came," Miller said. "Nobody made rounds."
When a grand jury took up the case last month, it did not indict Dehart on rape charges. Instead, Miller was charged with malfeasance in office; sexual conduct prohibited with a prisoner.
"That grand jury was an absolute facade," Miller's attorney Travis Turner said. "They just had it to have it. There was no way they presented the evidence to the grand jury to get an indictment. They didn't have the rape kit, and the officer that did the investigation was told on his way to the grand jury proceeding that he was not needed."
The WBRZ Investigative Unit questioned the District Attorney's Office about Turner's claims.
"Whatever Ms. Miller says contradicts what evidence we will show at trial. I am appalled at her lawyer's statements," Tony Clayton responded.
An arrest affidavit obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit showed numerous recorded phone calls between an inmate named Drevon James and a woman they believe is Miller. On several instances, the warrant states the inmate was recorded talking to the woman about things that were happening in Miller's life.
She got a ticket for speeding that matched a recorded phone call with a woman talking about a ticket to the inmate. The inmate also talked about having her take a Plan B pill after video cameras captured James and Deshunta Miller going into a bathroom for 40 minutes. The warrant also states a woman mentioning her birthday on the phone to the inmate which matched Miller's birthday, April 27, 1999.
"There was another inmate that my client did speak to on the phone, but nothing inappropriate as far as a sexual relationship," Turner said.
Turner said in all of his years practicing law, he's never seen a case like this one.
"In my 15 years of practice, never," Turner said. "No reason that they needed to rush that grand jury proceeding. He was in jail and they could have waited until it was done, and why would you tell the detective that did the investigation not to appear at the grand jury proceeding?"
Turner said his client maintains her innocence. Miller is demanding justice.
"No one deserves to be raped no matter the circumstances," Miller said. "No matter what they did in the past. That's a pain that I don't wish on nobody."
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