A male inmate is accused of committing a sexual battery against a female inmate at the Alachua County Jail early Saturday morning.
The suspect, 26 year old Tyrone Detron Kirksey has a long criminal record with 4 felony and 4 misdemeanor convictions ranging from robbery to drug possession, but he has never been charged with a sexual offense...until now.
Jail spokesperson, Eugene Morris said, "He has been charged with sexual battery at a result of the activities over the weekend."
According to Morris, early Saturday morning, cameras caught Tyrone Kirksey sneaking into a holding cell where a woman was waiting to be booked after being arrested for fighting with her boyfriend at a downtown bar.
The alleged victim said Kirksey entered her cell and tried starting a conversation with her. Then he began urinating in the toilet and she turned away from him toward the wall and fell asleep on the bench in her cell. When she woke up she said Kirksey was touching both her and himself inappropriately.
The woman reported the incident to officers stationed a few yards away, and they soon found Kirksey pretending to use a phone nearby.
Morris wouldn't specify how Kirksey gained access to the locked holding cell because the investigation is still ongoing, but he did mention that under staffing and overcrowding could have been a factor.
He said, "As much as you try to guard against activities like this from taking place...it's impossible to be everywhere at the same time."
Morris said that surveillance cameras will help them to determine how the incident occurred, but wouldn't say if they could've prevented the alleged battery. He said, "Somebody is always paying attention to what's going on and once again, we got to conclude the investigation and connect the dots we need to in order to figure out what took place."
A nurse says she also saw Kirksey watching her and touching himself inappropriately before the sexual battery allegedly occurred.
We'll keep you updated as the investigation continues.