Polk County corrections officer charged with sexual assault of incarcerated women

CROOKSTON — A corrections officer in Crookston is out on bail after he was charged with sexually assaulting two incarcerated women at the Northwest Regional Corrections Center.

On Sept. 11, the women reported to a Polk County investigator that Corrections Officer Irving Emmanual Jacobo Bravo, 49, of Red Lake Falls, had sexually assaulted them both earlier in the day.

The facility, located in Crookston, serves Norman, Polk and Red Lake counties.

According to the statement for probable cause, the victims told investigators Bravo’s sexual assaults began weeks before the report. The women share a cell.

One of the victims said Bravo would bring them suckers, hair ties, vapes and razors and do special favors for them. On the day of the report, Bravo allegedly brought a medical request form into the shared cell “to make it look like he had reason to enter” before sexually assaulting the women again, court documents state.

A witness at the facility allegedly told investigators Bravo contacted him regarding the investigation. The witness said Bravo admitted to “touching” one of the girls and expressed worry because “he actually did do something.”

The court document reports sexual assault exams were conducted on the victims, and a search warrant was granted for a sample of Bravo’s DNA. Lab results from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension showed a DNA match.

Bravo is facing two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in what statute describes as a “prohibited occupational relationship.”

The maximum sentence is 15 years in prison, a $30,000 fine, or both. The Beltrami County Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.

Bravo’s conditional bail was set at $100,000. He did not qualify for a public defender. His next virtual court appearance is Tuesday, Oct. 6.