$3.25M settlement for woman sexually assaulted at Markham courthouse

Nine officers of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office are still on the payroll even though the county unanimously voted Wednesday to pay $3.25 million to a woman who was sexually assaulted on their watch in the lockup at the Markham Courthouse.

Cara Smith, chief policy adviser to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, said Wednesday that the office is seeking to terminate the officers, a decision that was made after an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office of Professional Review. The office was investigating how the woman came to be locked in a small cell with two men — and why none of the deputies assigned to the courtroom at the time noticed the assault as it was taking place.

“The negligence of the staff was just shocking,” Smith said. “What occurred here should have never occurred and should never occur in a correctional setting.”

The Chicago Sun-Times obtained disciplinary records that show the four deputy sheriff’s officers recommended to be fired are Sheila Kalina, Timothy Houlihan, Marvin Buchanan and Josephine Carter.

Cook County Undersheriff Zelda Whittler agreed with the recommendation to fire the four officers named so far, records show.

The Office of Professional Review has yet to complete its findings with regard to the five other sheriff’s office employees, according to the sheriff’s office.

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Last June, Hamidullah Tribble, 21, and Nelon Drake, 23, were charged with sexually assaulting the female inmate on May 2 in a holding cell adjacent to a courtroom in the south suburban courthouse.

Investigators with the sheriff’s office found that Tribble, “under the guise that he needed to use the toilet,” had sheriff’s officers escort him from his cell to another one nearby that had a bathroom — where the victim was located at the time. It was in the bathroom that Tribble allegedly committed the sexual assault.

Once Tribble was returned to his cell, Drake, who was held in the same one, also told sheriff’s officers he had to use the bathroom, records show. He was taken to the same one, where the woman remained. Once inside, “he had [the victim] perform an act of oral sex on him.”

Carter and Buchanan were responsible for taking Tribble and Drake from their holding cell to the restroom cell, where the victim was being held.

Kalina and Houlihan, who were stationed where the woman was being held, failed to notify Carter or Buchanan that the victim was in the restroom cell where the assault allegedly took place. It wasn’t until the two inmates requested to speak to a sergeant and alleged that they were assaulted that an incident report was written.

Carter told investigators that he didn’t know the woman was inside and that Kalina and Houlihan didn’t mention it. Buchanan said he didn’t remember discussing any female inmates in the bathroom.

Kalina said “she believes she informed Carter and Buchanan” that the victim was in the bathroom. Houlihan said that he checked the bathroom cell to make sure it was unoccupied before the two men took turns using it, records show.

The Office of Professional Review found that the four named officers violated several sheriff’s office policies and standards. The complaints against them — all of which were sustained — cited: Inattention to duty, failure to follow policy and procedure, failure to report an incident, neglect of duty, falsifying a report, conduct unbecoming and being less than truthful, records show.

None of the four named officers could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Michael Oppenheimer, who represented the woman, wasn’t able to say much about the case or the settlement process, but did say that from a civil law perspective this is the end of the legal battle. Now, his client will seek counseling and try to move on.

“Nothing can replace what was taken from her,” Oppenheimer said. “I do commend the county for moving quickly on this, but the general problem needs to be fixed.”

Board President Toni Preckwinkle called the matter “disgraceful.” From 2015 to this point in 2017, the county has paid $25 million in claims against the Sheriff’s Office, including the police department, Preckwinkle said.

“It’s unacceptable and we should all be outraged. We need to understand how this could possibly happen in one of our lockups,” Preckwinkle said. “The sheriff and his team need to do a better job of putting systems in place so that there are clear operational and managerial guidelines.”

The Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, Smith said, “included extensive interviews with staff and detainees and reviews of other reports.”

Smith said there is no timeline yet for when the correctional officers’ cases will be heard before the sheriff’s office’s merit board, largely due to the officers’ union contract.

“There’s a frustrating process that will unfold, as governed by the collective bargaining agreement,” she said. “It takes far too long in our opinion.”

Sheriff’s officials asked State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to investigate the assault for criminal charges. The male inmates initially told sheriff’s deputies the woman had threatened them with a syringe and demanded they perform sex acts on her. No syringe was discovered in the holding cell on any of the inmates.

Smith said the investigation by the Office of Professional Review was delayed at the request of the State’s Attorney’s Office as it pursued charges against the two men.

Both men were charged with criminal sexual assault, court records show. Tribble was ordered held on $250,000 bail, with Drake’s set at $200,000, records show. Both pleaded not guilty.

At the time of the alleged sexual assault, Tribble was already in jail held on $100,000 bail on charges of aggravated kidnapping of a child, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and unlawful restraint, according to prosecutors. Drake is being held without bond on a first-degree murder charge, and a separate case in which he is charged with attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful restraint.