Utica, N.Y. – A former New York state corrections officer who tried to cover up the fatal beating of an inmate has now been charged with sexually abusing a woman.
Joshua Bartlett, 49, of Utica, was arrested Monday after a months-long investigation, according to a news release from State Police spokesperson Trooper Jennifer Jiron.
The abuse happened September 2022, according to court records.
State police did not say where the abuse allegedly happened. Mid-State, where Bartlett used to work, is an all-male prison.
Bartlett was charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and three counts of forcible touching, a misdemeanor, Jiron said.
He is being held in Oneida County Jail on $100,000 cash bail, $300,000 bond or $900,000 partially secured bond.
Bartlett already faces a two-year prison sentence for participating in the cover-up of the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi inside the Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick confirmed the man charged in the abuse case is the guard in the Nantwi case.
Fitzpatrick said he will speak to Bartlett’s attorney about whether the new arrest could affect his previous plea agreement.
In the fatal beating, Bartlett pleaded guilty to felony hindering prosecution and falsifying business records and agreed to be a cooperating witness against his fellow former corrections officers.