Rikers has been developing a reputation for its soap-opera-esque sex scene, which includes lurid tales of trysts between lonely female guards and eligible inmates. But just because consensual inmate/guards hookups happen often doesn't mean it's ok when senior officers wantonly grope female guards, and whisper sweet nothings like, "When you gonna give me some? What breast-size you have? You have small t--s or big ones?"
Guard Marlie Meme, a 37-year-old corrections officer from Queens, claims that her superior Capt. Rudolph John has been sexually harassing and assaulting her since 2008. In her lawsuit against John and the city's Department of Corrections, she says that John routinely made vulgar comments, degrading gestures, and propositioned her for sex. Meme says she complained to other officers, and was refused a transfer from under John's command. When he found out she had been complaining about him last year, and hiding in the bathroom to avoid him, John allegedly rubbed her breasts repeatedly in front of another guard and in full view of inmates.
According to the suit, he grabbed Meme "tightly by her collar ripping her shirt buttons and pulled her on top of him." As he held her, "he was pressing and rubbing [Meme's] breasts with the back of his forearms," and when the captain noticed another officer nearby, he scolded her. "Don't you dare talk to me like that. I will put you over my knee and spank you, little girl." Meme says the abuse has slipped into her personal life and made her miserable: "I have a lot of resentment against him for thinking he can do whatever he wants or say whatever he wants. It's disgusting."
