Federal prison officer convicted of sexually abusing inmate in Aliceville, Alabama

(WKBN) – – A former Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) correctional officer was convicted Friday of sexually abusing an inmate.

Robert D. Smith, 39, was working at the Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, Alabama, a low-security federal prison, when investigators say he engaged in sexual acts with a female inmate in 2019.

He pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a ward on January 11, 2024. He was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison, followed by 15 years probation.

According to prosecutors, Smith admitted to sexually abusing another inmate on several occasions in 2018.

Both crimes were committed in areas that were inaccessible to the facility’s cameras.

“Apart from the view of the cameras and the eyes of possible witnesses, this defendant
sexually abused and assaulted vulnerable female prisoners and thought he would
get away with his crimes,” said Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke of
Department of Civil Rights. “This case should send a clear message to
Officers who work in correctional facilities that we have zero tolerance for sexual assault
of women held in prisons and detention centers.

The Department of Justice’s Office of the Attorney General investigated the case.