BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Tuesday, a suspended jail deputy in the Erie County Holding Center was indicted on multiple misdemeanor charges.
Robert M. Dee is accused of forcibly touching a female inmate. He is also facing charges in an alleged domestic violence incident, according to prosecutors.
Dee was indicted on the following charges:
- One count of forcible touching
- Three counts of official misconduct
- Two counts of criminal contempt in the second degree
- One count of tampering with a witness in the fourth degree
If convicted of all charges, Dee faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
It is alleged that Dee forcibly touched the intimate parts of a female inmate while working as a jail deputy in 2019, according to prosecutors. It is further alleged that during this time he solicited and received the victim's phone number and called her after she was released, knowingly violating protocol to report contact with former inmates.
In a separate incident, it is alleged that Dee picked up a female victim from a park in the Town of Hamburg while he was on duty in an Erie County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle in October of 2021. Prosecutors allege that Dee then drove the victim to his hours in the Town of Eden where they engaged in sexual conduct.
In December, officers from the Eden Police Department allegedly responded to Dee's home for a domestic disturbance. Dee is accused of subjecting the female victim to physical contact. Dee was off-duty at the time of the alleged incident.
Dee was arraigned that evening on one count of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and one count of harassment in the second degree in Eden Town Court. An order of protection was issued to prevent the Dee from contacting the victim.
It is alleged that Dee knowingly violated the order of protection in a second domestic violence-related arrest, according to prosecutors. Erie County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home in the Town of Eden in January of this year after receiving a 911 call.
The same female victim was allegedly in Dee's home, violating the order of protection. Dee was reportedly off-duty at the time of the incident.
Dee was arrested and held at the Niagara County Jail pending his arraignment. He was arraigned in Eden on one count of criminal contempt in the second degree. The judge set bail at $25,000, which the defendant posted.
Both cases from the Town of Eden were transferred to Integrated Domestic Violence Court and were pending before State Supreme Court Justice Deborah A. Haendiges.
The prosecution further alleged that between Jan. 18, 2022, and Feb. 20, 2022, Dee communicated with the victim, knowingly violating the order of protection. Dee allegedly asked the victim to not comply with court orders related to his pending criminal charges, according to prosecutors.
The victim also has pending criminal charges against her in the Town of Eden and Dee is the complainant in one of the pending cases. The Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office was appointed as a special prosecutor following the Erie County District Attorney’s Office's recusal from her cases.
Dee is scheduled to return on May 9, 2022, for a pre-trial conference. He remains released on bail previously posted in Eden Town Court.