A former Nassau County Corrections Officer was convicted of 30 counts of extorting sexual favors from female inmates in District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced on Thursday.
Mark Barber, 50, of Levittown, was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual acts, two counts of second-degree receiving reward for official misconduct, 18 counts of official misconduct, seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse and two counts of forcible touching.
Rice said that from approximately August 2007 to March 2009, Barber, who was a grievance officer for the Nassau County Correctional Center’s female inmate population, engaged in various ongoing, inappropriate relationships with female inmates.
According to Rice, Barber targeted women who had histories of drug abuse, prostitution or mental health treatment. The relationships ranged from providing cigarettes and private phone calls to engaging in various levels of sexual activity with the inmates, Rice said.
“Mark Barber is a sexual predator who used his jailhouse power to exploit the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the very women he was paid to help,” Rice said. “Today’s verdict ensures that this defendant will be behind the cell doors he once was trusted to guard, and that’s exactly where he belongs.”
Barber began his tenure as a corrections officer at the County Jail in December 1987. He began serving as a grievance officer in December 2005 and was fired in December of 2009.
The DA’s Office and the Nassau County Correctional Center Internal Affairs Unit began investigating Barber in March 2009 after a female inmate said that Barber tried to kiss her while she was assigned to a work detail under his supervision.
Barber faces up to 10 years in prison and is due back in court to be sentenced on Sept. 28.
