COOK COUNTY, IL – Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today that he intends to seek the termination of nine staff members determined to have allowed the sexual assault of a female individual in custody by two male individuals in custody at the Markham Courthouse.
On May 2, 2017, a 52-year-old female individual in custody reported that she was sexually assaulted by two male individuals in custody in a holding cell at the courthouse.
Sheriff Dart immediately launched a comprehensive internal investigation into how the male individuals in custody had access to the female individual in custody and continues to cooperate fully with the ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The two male individuals in custody, Hamidullah Tribble, 21, and Nelon Drake, 29, have been charged with criminal sexual assault in connection with this case.
This week, the Sheriff’s Office reached, in principle, a pre-litigation settlement of all claims with the victim for $3.25 million dollars.
The Sheriff’s Office also implemented a series of reforms to ensure the protection of all individuals in custody , including mandating deputies assigned to any area of a courthouse without fixed cameras wear body-worn cameras, assigning additional trained supervisors to the Markham Courthouse and comprehensive unannounced security audits of all court facilities.