A Flood of Claims From Rikers Island Amplify the Pervasive Problem of Sexual Assault in Jails

Notes from America with Kai Wright

Warning: This episode contains profane language and detailed descriptions of sexual assault allegations.

More than 20 women say a man who went by Officer “Champagne” sexually assaulted them while they were held at the Rikers Island women's jail. Their allegations span decades and they are now suing the city for more than $500 million. But the Department of Correction says there was no one with that name who worked there during that time.

WNYC spoke with several women who say they were assaulted by Champagne, and started to unravel the mystery. Who was Correction Officer Champagne?

What the WNYC investigation found led to more questions — including why city officials have done so little to investigate more than 700 recent claims of sexual assault at the troubled jail?.

Related links:

He was Officer 'Champagne' at Rikers. 24 women accused him of sexual assault in jail

Rikers guard charged with rape while off duty has a string of accusations from detainees

CREDITS

Reporter: Jesse Edwards

Editor: Christopher Werth

Executive producer: Ave Carrillo

Producer: Jared Marcelle

Contributors: Jared Marcelle, Samantha Max

Technical Director: Wayne Shulmister

Audio Mixing: Wayne Shulmister, Liora Noam-Kravitz

Music: Jared Paul, Owen Kaplan

Episode art: Rhe Civitello

Thanks to: Sean Bowditch, Stephanie Clary, Audrey Cooper, Lauren Cooperman and Ann Givens

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Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.