## Facts

- Randy Denjen, a lieutenant corrections officer at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, supervised the area where a female federal prisoner was held in an isolated underground cell on suicide watch.
- Denjen was substantially larger than the victim and had custodial authority over her conditions of confinement.
- Late at night, Denjen initiated sexual contact after the victim refused; he forced his tongue into her mouth and placed her hand on his penis while he masturbated.
- Denjen returned multiple times, continuing sexual demands; the victim testified she complied with some acts out of fear of harm.
- During a later incident, Denjen ordered the victim to partially undress, forced her legs apart, pinned her with his body against the floor and wall, and forced intercourse; the assault stopped when another guard arrived.
- The victim testified she did not resist or call out because she feared serious harm, believed no one would hear her, and thought Denjen’s authority would prevent intervention.
- Denjen pleaded guilty to causing a federal prisoner to engage in sexual contact by threatening and placing her in fear (18 U.S.C. § 2242(1)) and to making a false statement to the FBI (18 U.S.C. § 1001).
- At sentencing, the government sought a four-level Sentencing Guidelines enhancement for “use of force”; Denjen opposed, citing the absence of a weapon, explicit threats, or physical restraint and noting the cell door was left unlocked.

## Issues

1. Whether a four-level Sentencing Guidelines “use of force” enhancement applies when a correctional officer compels sexual acts through physical overpowering and custodial authority, without a weapon or explicit verbal threats, and where the victim could theoretically flee.

## Decision

- The court granted the government’s request and applied the four-level “use of force” enhancement.
- The court found that Denjen used physical force by pinning the victim with his body, forcing her legs apart, and forcing intercourse.
- The court held that the custodial setting and power disparity, combined with the victim’s reasonable fear and Denjen’s physical control, satisfied the force requirement for enhancement purposes.
- The court rejected Denjen’s arguments that an unlocked door, lack of a weapon, and absence of explicit threats defeated a finding of force.

## Legal Principles

- “Use of force” for sentencing may be established by physical coercion and bodily control during a sexual assault, even without weapons, overt injury, or express threats.
- In custodial sexual abuse, the disparity in power between guard and prisoner is relevant to whether conduct is forced, particularly where authority and isolation make resistance or escape unrealistic.
- A victim’s lack of resistance does not negate force where credible evidence shows fear of serious harm and the perpetrator’s physical dominance and institutional control constrained the victim’s choices.

## Conclusion

The sentencing court applied a four-level “use of force” enhancement because the defendant’s physical overpowering, exercised within an extreme custodial power imbalance and inducing reasonable fear, constituted force even absent a weapon or explicit verbal threats.


United States v. Denjen, 258 F. Supp. 2d 194 (E.D.N.Y. 2003)