NORTHAMPTON — An incarcerated sex offender at the county jail is again facing sexual assault charges after several inmates reported to jail officials last fall that that the man threatened on a daily basis to rape them and touched them inappropriately.
At his arraignment in Northampton District Court on Jan. 13, Miguel A. Huertas, 25, originally of Springfield, pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and battery, two counts of witness intimidation, assault and battery and accosting/annoying a person in a sexual manner.
In December 2014, Huertas was sentenced to five years in jail after admitting to beating a man at a Northampton bus stop. He was previously convicted in 2007 for rape and abuse of a child.
At least two men came forward to jail officials and alleged that Huertas, who is serving a sentence for assault and battery, said the inmate threatened and assaulted them, according to a Hampshire Jail and House of Correction internal report.
One inmate said that, in the second week of October 2016, Huertas grabbed and slapped his buttocks — all while “arching his eyebrows” in a suggestive manner — as the man relaxed in his cell. Another inmate witnessed this, according to the report, and informed jail officials.
Then, another man who’s also serving a sentence at the jail, said Huertas once punched him in the torso and “touched him in an unwanted manner on a daily basis,” according to the report. The inmate who reported the incident alleged that Huertas used him “as a punching bag,” and threatened to rape him. The Gazette generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault.
In the days after the alleged assaults were reported to jail officials, certified Prison Rape Elimination Act investigators interviewed all parties and subsequently brought the new charges against Huertas, according to the report.
“We don’t let those things linger because that can create other (problems) inside the facility,” Sheriff Patrick Cahillane said. “Any crime that’s committed in the facility has to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law … it becomes a safety situation for both the staff and the inmates, so we do not tolerate it.”
While Cahillane could not offer specifics in regard to any disciplinary action inside the jail, he said that, typically, offenders who are determined to pose a threat to themselves or others are separated from other inmates and placed in solitary confinement pending a review hearing.
“They don’t take the cases lightly, and they want to make sure the outcome is fair to everybody,” Cahillane said of jail officials working on the case.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.