#Supervisors at Epstein jail allowed guard to abuse female inmates for a decade, suit claims

Supervisors at the troubled Lower Manhattan jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself last year let a “predator” correction officer sexually abuse at least a dozen women who were locked up at the facility, a new lawsuit claims.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court by three victims of correction officer Colin Akparanta, alleges that higher-ups at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, including former warden Lamine N’Diaye, knew about the abuse but let it continue for more than a decade.

Akparanta pleaded guilty to sexually abusing seven female inmates in March after he was hit with a nine-count indictment that alleged he smuggled contraband — including personal hygiene items, makeup and food — into the jail as a means to coerce his victims into keeping quiet and cooperating with the abuse.

In the new suit, the three victims detailed how Akparanta allegedly used his power in the jail to abuse them in the MCC.

Papers say he ordered his victims to undress while they were being held in isolation cells and use a slot in the door to stick his hand through to fondle them.

He also brought his victims to areas in the jail, including a control room known as the “bubble” to abuse them out of the view of cameras, the suit clams.

One of his victims, Darrah Kneisel, alleged in the suit that he once locked down the women’s section of the jail to abuse her — a move that should’ve alerted other members of the jail staff.

“Akparanta’s supervisors knew or should have known that this abuse of the MCC’s lockdown procedure suggested that misconduct was occurring,” the suit states.

“Had Akparanta’s supervisors investigated, they would have learned that Akparanta was using these lockdowns in order to assault Kneisel,” it adds.

He would bring her to the shower area of the jail to abuse her, which also should’ve raised red flags, according to the suit.

“When Akparanta arrived at the shower, he entered the shower with Kneisel, in violation of mandatory and binding Bureau of Prisons policy,” the suit states.

Another one of the victims, Sacha Santiago, says in the suit that Akparanta abused her multiple times a week for months in 2018, including making her undress in her cell with her cellmate.

“As Akparanta continued his rounds, Santiago heard him ordering other women inmates to similarly show him their breasts,” the suit states.

The suit names Akparanta, former warden N’Diaye and several other officials from the jail and the Bureau of Prisons for allowing the abuse to continue for more than a decade.

N’Diaye was transferred out of his leadership role in the MCC after Epstein killed himself in a jail cell at the facility while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The BOP did not immediately return a request for comment.