Milwaukee County correctional officer charged with sexual assault of female inmate

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County District Attorney has filed charges against a former Milwaukee County correctional officer, Devon Winbush, for attempted sexual assault and for giving his cell phone to a female inmate.

Twenty-nine-year-old Winbush faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 or both if convicted on the sexual assault. He also faces up to three years and six months in jail and a fine of up to $10,000 or both if he's convicted for giving his cell phone to the female inmate.

According to the criminal complaint, these felonies happened between May 17 and May 27, 2023, at the jail where the inmate was being held. Winbush was arrested on May 29, following an investigation by the sheriff's department.

Winbush, according to the complaint, gave a female inmate his cell phone so she could Facetime with her partner, put money on her jail credit account and texted her using the jail's text system, in which a conversation came about where he called the inmate, "cute."

Also, in the complaint, the female inmate says Winbush entered her cell once while she was showering. A video shows him coming into her cell thirty times in one shift. The complaint goes on to say that on one visit, Winbush tried to touch the inmate inappropriately, as well as exposed himself to her.

Winbush was hired as a correctional officer in July 2022 and was still in his probationary period at the jail when all of this occurred.

“The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is committed to holding itself accountable,” said Sheriff Denita Ball. “I have said before and mean it more than ever that no one – especially a member of this or any other criminal justice agency – is above the law. This former officer is alleged to have broken the law and to have violated the trust put in him to protect the well-being of our occupants. He will face consequences as determined by a judge or a jury.”