Federal appeals court reverses jury award of $6.7 million to woman raped in Milwaukee jail

Milwaukee County is not liable to pay a 2017 federal jury award of $6.7 million to a woman who was raped in the county's jail by a guard in 2013, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The sexual assaults of an inmate were not related to the corrections officer's job duties as a county employee and "no reasonable jury could find the sexual assaults were in the scope of his employment," the appeals court for the U.S. Seventh Circuit said in its decision.

Milwaukee County "has a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting corrections officers from having any sexual contact with inmates," the court said. In addition, training of corrections officers includes instruction on avoiding sexual contact with inmates. 

Milwaukee County is protected from paying damages under those circumstances, the appeals court said.

RELATED:Facing $7 million award and fees, Milwaukee County seeks new trial in case of woman raped at jail

A state indemnification law that enables public employees to perform their duties without fear of having to pay out of their personal pockets for their performance of those duties "does not make public employers absolute insurers against all wrongs," the court said.

The guard, Xavier Thicklen, was hired to work as a corrections officer in the jail in 2012. 

The victim was pregnant when she was booked into the jail in early 2013.

The woman, who was 19 in 2013, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2014 that Thicklen assaulted her five times, including once when she was more than seven months pregnant and once within days of her return to the jail after giving birth.

In the federal jury trial, the woman described how she was shackled as she went through labor in late 2013 at a local hospital where she gave birth to a girl. 

Thicklen denied he ever had sex with the woman. He was charged with sexual assault and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misconduct in office.

He was sentenced to three days in the House of Correction on the lesser charge and was fined $200. He also was fired.

Since the repeated rapes of the woman in 2013 were outside the scope of his employment and duties, his actions were not subject to indemnification, the court said.

RELATED:Woman describes rapes by Milwaukee County Jail guard and giving birth while shackled

"When a corrections officer sexually assaults an inmate, it is an indefensible injustice and a crime," county Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun said Monday.

"Regardless of this legal victory, the county and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office continue to work together to ensure that every inmate at the jail or House of Correction is treated with dignity and respect," she said.