Officer raped pretrial detainees he was transporting, feds say. He’s going to prison

A former transport officer is going to prison after being accused of raping multiple women who were being transported as pretrial detainees, federal officials said.

The sentencing of Marquet Johnson, 45, of Arkansas comes after he pleaded guilty to the 2019 assaults in December, McClatchy News reported.

Johnson’s lawyer did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on April 17.

Johnson worked as an officer for a private transport company and would pick up people who were arrested on out-of-state warrants and transport them back to where the warrant was issued, according to an April 16 news release by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2019, Johnson and his partner picked up a woman in New Mexico with the intent to transport her to Colorado, prosecutors said. During the transport, Johnson’s partner stopped at a rest stop. When he walked away, Johnson told the victim to head to the back row of the van.

Johnson loosened the woman’s handcuffs and raped her while holding his gun to her cheek, officials said.

Johnson admitted to another instance where he forced another pretrial detainee to perform oral sex on him while en route to Texas, prosecutors said.

While transporting another woman from Oregon to Missouri, Johnson raped her after stopping the van at a hotel, officials said.

Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison and five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender, officials said.

This story was originally published April 17, 2024 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Officer raped pretrial detainees he was transporting, feds say. He’s going to prison."