NSW correctional officers: nine guards facing sexual assault, rape charges

A shocking number of correctives officers facing sexual assault and rape charges have been revealed, as corrective services suspend three guards in a week.

They are responsible for keeping the public, and those behind bars, safe — but a shocking number of NSW correctional officers have been suspended over allegations of sexual assault.

NewsLocal can reveal nine corrective services employees are currently before the courts for alleged sexual assault and rape incidents inside NSW prisons and out in the community.

A further three officers are currently suspended for claims of assault.

Serious allegations of sexual assault and rape have been levelled by inmates, colleagues and the public, as corrections sources described the claims of unwarranted sexual advancements and assault inside NSW prisons as “rampant”.

Correctional officers are alleging sexual assault claims against their colleagues. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The shocking number of rape and sexual assault claims comes as three corrections officers, two who work together at the Francis Greenway Correctional Facility in Western Sydney, were suspended and charged in the last week alone.

Last week, NewsLocal revealed 35-year-old Warrimoo man, Glenn Robinson, and 26-year old Riverstone man, Josateki Setuata, were charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault — offender in company with other persons.

The officers were suspended from the Windsor-based correctional centre following the alleged aggravated sexual assault of a woman in Sydney’s north-west on Anzac Day.

A NSW police spokeswoman said Strike Force Kempbridge were told a 37-year-old woman met three men at The Fiddler before the men allegedly took the woman to a home at Riverstone, where she was sexually assaulted on several occasions by the group in the early hours of the morning.

A woman was allegedly raped by three men including two correctional officers after meeting them at The Fiddler at Rouse Hill. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

On Friday, yet another corrective services NSW officer was charged and suspended from the state’s central west following investigations into an alleged sexual offence.

“In April this year, detectives from the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad’s Corrective Services Investigation Unit established Strike Force Moana to investigate an allegation of inappropriate sexual behaviour by a male correctional officer, following a referral from a correctional facility in the state’s Central West,” the spokeswoman said.  “Following extensive investigations, strike force detectives arrested a 28-year-old man at Lithgow Police Station.

“He was charged with incite another to sexually touch them without consent and common assault.”

Police will allege the man attempted to “instigate sexual activity” with a 52-year-old female employee at the centre after returning from a prisoner escort between August and September, 2019.

Wayne Astill pictured leaving the Downing Centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

Meanwhile, the trial of suspended Windsor corrections officer Wayne Astill is set down for August 2.

65-year-old Astill faces 36 charges including several counts of sexual abuse of female jail inmates on dozens of occasions at the Dillwynia Correctional Centre in Windsor between 2016 and 2019.

The officer, who is currently suspended from Corrective Services NSW without pay, was charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault victim under authority of offender; 14 counts of aggravated indecent assault; three counts of inciting aggravated indecency; seven counts of misconduct in public office; two counts of intimidation and introducing contraband to correctional centre.

A NSW Corrective Services spokeswoman said corrective officers from Dillwynia, John Morony, Cooma, Kirkconnell and Bathurst correctional centres, the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre and Campbelltown Courts have all been charged with incidents of sexual assault, resulting in suspension.

Meanwhile, the three officers from Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre and the Security Operations Group are currently suspended for assault charges in the community.

Claims of sexual assault in the workplace comes as all 10,000 corrections staff are currently sitting through compulsory code of ethical conduct training.

“In addition to the training, we are taking a proactive approach to building staff resilience and improving mental health and well-being support in our workplaces,” the corrective services spokeswoman said.

“The majority of our officers do the right thing in a difficult line of work, keeping the people of NSW safe and secure.

“In the rare cases where they don’t, they will be prosecuted with the full force of the law.”