Bureau Of Prisons Correctional Officer Indicted For Sexually Assaulting An Inmate

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – A federal grand jury in Tallahassee returned an indictment on July 7, 2020, charging Phillip Golightly, 38, of Quincy, Florida, with two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Ward. Golightly, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons Correctional Officer at Federal Correctional Institution Marianna, is charged with sexually assaulting an inmate while on temporary duty at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee. The indictment was announced by Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

The indictment alleges that in November 2019, while on-duty as a Correctional Officer, Golightly sexually assaulted a female inmate at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee, while the inmate was under Golightly’s custodial, supervisory, and disciplinary authority.

The jury trial for Golightly is scheduled for August 24, 2020, at 8:15 a.m. before the Honorable Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee. If convicted, Golightly faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison per count.

Assistant United States Attorney Lazaro P. Fields is prosecuting the case, which resulted from an investigation by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website.  For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.