Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution (EOCI) Correctional Officer Matthew Klimek was arrested at EOCI on sex abuse charges Friday. According to the Oregon State Police (OSP), they were contacted by staff at EOCI on June 23rd to report allegations of stalking and harassment against Klimek. Not much has been released to the public regarding the basis for the charges.
We are of course wondering if the victim was an inmate at EOCI because the only news report we could find about this incident thus far credits the prison for referring the case to OSP and if the victim were not an inmate we think he would have been arrested much sooner. Inmates are not usually believed by staff, so it takes more than just a complaint to the higher ups to get a guard into trouble. We believe that the higher-ups must have taken the rare step of actually investigating an inmate complaint against a staff member and did more than just interview the staff member being complained about. They were probably told about evidence and not only actually bothered to look at it, but also tried to figure out what it meant.
One of the charges is listed as First Degree Sodomy (incest) which means that his victim probably was not an inmate because if it was known that he had a family member at that prison that person would have probably been transferred. This leads us to think that some poor member of his family may have complained to the prison.
According to the Umatilla County Jail, CO Klimek is still incarcerated at that facility. He is almost certainly in protective custody as a close custody "walk alone" for his own safety. As such he will spend 23 hours a day in his cell by himself and his one hour out will also be by himself because most inmates would be happy to teach him why raping people is a bad idea.
We found the following information about him on the Umatilla County Jail website:
Age: 33
Sex: Male
Race: White
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 330
Hair: Brown
Eyes: BROWN
Build: Obese
Complexion: LIGHT
Booking Date: 12/18/2020 14:37
Arresting Agency: OSP
Arrest Date: 12/18/2020
Arrest Location:
EOCI PENDLETON
Charges
1 count of 163.411- UNLAWFUL SEXUAL PENETRATION I [Felony] Bail: $150000
1 count of 163.405- SODOMY I (INCEST) [Felony] Bail: $0
1 count of 163.427- SEXUAL ABUSE I (ASLT W/OBJECT) [Felony] Bail: $0
2 counts of 163.425- SEXUAL ABUSE II (SEXUAL ASSAULT W/ OBJECT) [Felony] Bail: $0
1 count of 163.187- STRANGULATION (AGGRAVATED ASSAULT) [Felony] Bail: $0
Total Bail: $150000