Milwaukee County Jail correctional officer Devon Winbush was arrested on May 29th for attempted sexual assault of a female inmate and for giving her his cell phone. Winbush faces up to 20 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine if convicted for the attempted sexual assault. He also faces up to 3.5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted for the cell phone offense.
It is not uncommon for inmates to develop romantic feelings for their captors and vice versa. However, due to the power imbalance between guards and inmates it is not legally possible for an inmate to consent to sex with a guards. That is true even if the relationship was the inmate's idea and that idea was vigorously pursued by the inmate. While in federal custody, this author heard of guys in various county jails and federal facilities having sex with female staff. In such cases the sex is almost always viewed as a conquest for which the inmate receives praise from his fellow inmates often jealous of his success. However, there are times when female staff members get involved with male inmates in ways which primarily benefit the woman. That sounded like the case in FCI Sheridan a few years ago when this author heard about his former case manger killing herself. The story was that she'd been caught brining in tobacco for an inmate she was having an affair with. This author personally had a platonic liking for her simply because she always seemed nice, did what she could to get people as much halfway house time as possible, and didn't go out of her way to hurt anyone. We felt sorry for her as well due to her appearance being that of a short heavy lady who seemed really lonely. Cases like that are not too bad because a sex starved guy gets laid and even has a cigarette to smoke afterwards, but other cases can be downright abusive. Male guards charged with supervising female inmates often carries the assumption of compulsion whenever a sexual relationship ensues because female inmates almost always feel physically intimidated by male staff. When a male officer comes on to a female inmate intimidation should be assumed. However, female inmates also want sex and contraband, so it is not uncommon for some women to flirt with and proposition male staff members. In such cases one might feel sympathetic for the man, but his conduct is still a crime. It can be hard for some men to resist women but it is ultimately their responsibility to do so in those situations.
We don't know who initiated the relationship, but media reports indicate this was likely a series of unwanted advances on Winbush's part. Media reports allege that Winbush let the victim borrow his phone, put money on her commissary account, sent her a text message calling her "cute" via the jail's messaging system, entered her cell while she was showering, was caught on camera entering her cell 30 time in one shift, tried to touch her inappropriately, and exposed himself. Typically otherwise consensual relationships initiated by inmates don't go down that way. This appears to be the case of a guard cozying up to a "cute" chick hoping to get some eventually. If she really did like the idea of having sex with a guard in exchange for various perks she probably would have actually had sex with him instead of reporting him.
According to public records, Devon Jennaro Winbush is a 29 year old resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a registered Democrat with no prior criminal record.