TOWN OF EDEN, N.Y. (WKBW) — An Erie County sheriff's deputy who was suspended over allegations that he forcibly touched a female inmate at the county holding center is now facing charges for that and several other incidents.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday 41-year-old Robert M. Dee was arraigned and indicted in New York State Supreme Court on several misdemeanor charges, including forcible touching, official misconduct, criminal contempt and tampering with a witness.
The DA's office says Dee molested a female inmate at the Erie County Holding Center in the spring of 2019 while he was working as a jail deputy there. He allegedly got her to give him her phone number and called her once she was released, violating protocols that require deputies to report contact with former inmates.
The allegations against Dee do not end there.
The DA's office also charged him with misdemeanors in several other incidents between 2021 and early this year.
Incidents in 2021
In October 2021, Dee allegedly picked up a woman at a park in the Town of Hamburg and drove her back to his home in the Town of Eden where they engaged in sexual activities while he was on duty.
Less than two months later, in December, Eden police responded to a domestic disturbance call at Dee's home in which he allegedly tried to choke the same woman while he was off duty. He was charged with criminal obstructions of breathing or blood circulation and harassment in Eden Town Court and an order of protection was issued, preventing him from contacting the woman.
Incidents in 2022
The DA's says he broke that order of protection in January and was arrested for another instance of domestic violence, where Eden police say they found the same woman in Dee's home following a 911 call.
Dee was arrested and held in the Niagara County Jail and was arraigned on a criminal contempt charge with $25,000 bail, which he posted.
He allegedly tried to contact the same woman — again, violating the order of protection — throughout most of the month of February, when the DA's office says he asked the woman not to comply with the court orders related to the charges against him.
The DA's office says that the woman also has pending criminal charges against her in the Town of Eden and that Dee is a complainant in one of those cases. The Erie County District Attorney's office recused itself in the cases against her and the Wyoming County District Attorney's Office was appointed as a special prosecutor.
Dee is due back in court on May 9 for a pre-trial conference and faces up to one year in jail if he's convicted on all of the charges.
