FORMER PRISONER TRANSPORT OFFICER INDICTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND POSSESSING A FIREARM IN FURTHERANCE OF HIS SEXUAL ASSAULT

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Central District of California
11 July 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in Riverside, California, returned a five-count indictment against Eric Scott Kindley, 50, a private prisoner transport officer, for crimes related to his sexual assaults of two different females in his custody during two different transports, and for brandishing his firearm during one of the sexual assaults.

Count One of the indictment charges Kindley with committing a civil rights offense on July 26, 2012, that included aggravated sexual abuse and kidnapping. Counts Two, Three, and Four charge Kindley with committing civil rights offenses on Jan. 26, 2017, against a second female that included aggravated sexual abuse. Count Two also alleges that Kindley’s crime resulted in bodily injury and included kidnapping and the use of a dangerous weapon. Count Five charges Kindley with knowingly brandishing and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Kindley was previously indicted on Sept. 12, 2017, in Little Rock, Arkansas, for committing similar offenses related to his sexual assault of a third female in his custody. That indictment also charges Kindley with possessing his firearm in furtherance of that sexual assault.

If convicted of the charges in the most recent indictment, Kindley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison for brandishing his firearm, and a maximum sentence of life in prison. If convicted of the charges pending in Arkansas, Kindley faces a mandatory minimum of sentence of five years in prison for possession of the firearm, and a maximum sentence of life in prison. If Kindley is convicted of the firearms offenses in both indictments, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence he receives.

This investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Phoenix Division of the FBI at (623) 466-1999, or email the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice at Prisoner.Transfer@usdoj.gov.

An indictment is merely a formal accusation of criminal conduct, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Phoenix Division of the Federal Bureau Investigation and is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Fara Gold and Trial Attorney Maura White of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Contact:
Thom Mrozek
Spokesperson/Public Affairs Officer
United States Attorney’s Office
Central District of California (Los Angeles)
213-894-6947

Press Release Number:
18-904