Inmate walks past Maricopa County Jail officer in attempt to assault him

PHOENIX (AZ family) — A man already charged in a series of sexual assaults is accused of attempting to rape a woman while he was in custody at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

Justin Avery was arrested April 11 for allegedly assaulting five women near ASU’s Tempe campus.

Days later, while waiting to see a judge, shocking jailhouse video appears to show Avery sneaking past an MCSO detention officer before grabbing a sleeping woman on the floor.

The incident occurred at the Phoenix Intake and Transfer Center.

Sheriff’s officials said Avery crawled on the floor before groping the woman and pulling down her pants.

Court documents reveal that a woman sitting nearby began yelling at him to leave the victim.

The video shows the officer motioning for him to be quiet. That’s when he intervenes.

“What we have here is a failure by deputies to do their jobs properly using the technology that they have,” said Stan Kephart, a former Arizona police chief.

Court documents show Avery later admitted to detectives that he “slithered around like a spider” and intended to rape the victim.

Kephart said the incident is concerning and highlights a major system failure.

“He’s a sexual assaulter. That’s what he does. Knowing that, he should be under special surveillance in those circumstances,” Kephart said.

A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office released this statement regarding the attempted attack:

correction: An earlier version of this article referred to the sheriff’s employee as a deputy. The article has been updated to reflect the correct title of detention officer.

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