Former Philly prison guard pleads to sexual abuse charges in attack on inmate

A former correctional officer at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia has pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual abuse and related offenses following an attack last year that, officials said, injured a female inmate.

According to law enforcement officials, former correctional officer Michael Jefferson, 43, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey — who has since been suspended — pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual abuse charges following an attack that happened in an inmate’s cell on July 6, 2024.

He was arrested and charged in the incident in May.

In that attack, Jefferson, while employed as a corrections officer at Philadelphia’s Federal Detention Center, entered the cell of a female inmate, in the early morning hours of July 6, 2024, and forced the victim to engage in a sexual act.

The incident, officials said, resulted in injury to the victim.

Officials said that, “while acting under the color of law, Jefferson willfully deprived the victim of her right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, a right secured and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, which includes the right to be free from sexual abuse by a correctional officer.”

He is set to be scheduled on April 7, 2026 and at that time, officials said, he faces the possibility of serving life in prison.