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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A former Atlanta halfway house employee was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for sexually assaulting a federal inmate, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Tristan Cox, 35, engaged in non-consensual sexual contact with an inmate in his custody and lied about it to a federal agent, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

In April 2024, Cox was a contract employee for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, working as a residence monitor at an Atlanta halfway house.

During an overnight shift, Cox sexually assaulted an inmate in a supply room, prosecutors said.

 The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 prohibits sexual acts between corrections staff and detainees, and any deprivation of an inmate's bodily integrity without due process of law constitutes a civil rights violation,  the U.S. attorney's office said.

Cox at first denied any sexual contact with the inmate when federal agents interviewed him about the encounter. After being told of DNA results that corroborated the victim's account, Cox falsely told agents that the victim assaulted him, according to prosecutors.

Cox was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to violating the inmate's civil rights and making false statements to a federal agent. Along with the year and a half in prison, Cox will serve one year of supervised release.

 Cox violated the trust placed in him by sexually abusing an inmate and lying to investigators,  U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said in a statement.  Today's sentence underscores that individuals entrusted with the care and supervision of inmates are expected to uphold the law and respect the rights of incarcerated persons. 
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