A 47-year-old ex-prison guard from Kapolei was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for coercing female inmates into sexual assaults while working at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.
was originally charged in a 17-count indictment with six counts of sexual abuse by threats and 11 counts of sexual abuse of a ward while working as a correctional officer with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
After missing a hearing and the start of his trial, Rivera was caught Dec. 3 in the lobby of the Ala Moana Hotel, where he had been contemplating suicide in a hotel room after a mental health collapse, and resisted arrest by deputies with the U.S. Marshal’s Service, according to federal court records.
On March 5, as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Rivera admitted to six counts of sexual abuse of a ward.
Rivera was sentenced Thursday by Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright to 96 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to a news release from acting U.S. Attorney for the Hawaii District Ken Sorenson.
“Sexual abuse of individuals in custody by federal correctional officers is a profound breach of public trust. The Office of the Inspector General is committed to ensuring that those who violate that trust are held accountable for abusing their authority, ” said a statement from Anne Walsh, acting Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Western Region.
Seabright said he was imposing a sentence above the advisory sentencing guidelines range because “there is nothing in mitigation, nothing I see but a gross abuse of Mr. Rivera’s position of authority within (the Federal Detention Center ), and a gross abuse of that power in sexually abusing these three inmates over one calendar year.”
“His conduct was the exact opposite of what was intended, ” Seabright said. “You were supposed to help, to rehabilitate those in your care. Instead, you preyed on them. You became a predator to them.”
A sentencing memo filed Wednesday by his attorney, Caroline Elliot, said that Rivera, a married father of two who immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines when he was 17 and served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Kuwait, is deeply ashamed of his actions and the hurt he has caused both to the victims and to his family.
Rivera is hoping to be sent to a facility that “will allow him to get the sex offender and mental health treatment that he needs ” and let him work, the memo said.
In a June 25 letter to Seabright, Rivera apologized to his family and to his victims for “what I have done.”
“I have used my authority as CO to take advantage of the victims, I should have not done that. I even have trained by BOP and yet I violated the policy. I am sorry that I caused stress and pain for the victims. I take fully responsibility for my actions and I know I was wrong to do what I did, ” he wrote.
“I regret what I did. I know that there is no such thing as consensual between prison guard and inmate. I should have known better before I step inside the cell. I admitted and am guilty on those charges. These were serious offenses that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I will register as sex offender. It affected my career, military and civilian job.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara D. Ayabe for the District of Hawaii and trial attorney Nicole Lockhart of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case with “substantial assistance ” from former Public Integrity Section Deputy Chiefs Jennifer Clarke and Marco Palmieri, according to the news release.
Rivera worked at the Honolulu detention center as a correctional officer from 2014 until September 2018.
In 2017 he initiated a sexual relationship with an inmate that lasted for months, sneaking the woman out of her cell for liaisons, prosecutors said. When the female inmate was transferred to another facility, a review of Rivera’s digital communications revealed emails between the two about their relationship In April 2018, Rivera expressed interest in another female inmate before sexual assaulting her. The next month, in May 2018, he started making “lewd and inappropriate comments ” toward a third female inmate before eventually assaulting her.
“Correctional officers serve an invaluable role in our justice system, working in dangerous environments where they are entrusted to ensure order in our detention facilities and the safety of our inmates. While nearly all federal correctional officers are hardworking, ethical, and honest, there are those very few who abuse their power over inmates, ” said Sorenson in the release. “Their conduct erodes public faith in our institutions and justice system, and we must accordingly seek to investigate, prosecute, and punish those who abuse vulnerable inmates in federal custody.”
The FBI assisted in the investigation. FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter echoed Sorenson’s comments and said Rivera’s sentence “sends the clear message that the FBI will investigate and hold accountable anyone who violates federal law, regardless of their position.”