Last week, three U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were accused of using a “rape table” to haze two of their colleagues at Newark Liberty International Airport. 1
All three of the accused officers, 38-year-old Tito Catota, of Newark; 40-year-old Parmenio Perez, of Paterson, and 32-year-old Michael Papagni, of West Orange, were charged with “forcibly assaulting, impeding, intimidating and interfering”2 the two victims. (The defendants had been assigned to the Passenger Enforcement Rover Team, or PERT, a unit responsible for identifying passengers who might be carrying contraband or associated with terrorist activities.3)
It is alleged that senior officers would take newer officers into a secure room, throw them on a table and grind against their genital areas. The abuse is said to have been happening for years:
- In October 2016 Papagni told one of the victims that the PERT office table was known as the “rape table” and threatened that he would get the victim on it.
- It’s was alleged that on Jan. 10, Papagni told one of the victims he had five minutes to get out of the PERT office or he would teach him “what this team is about.” Moments later, another officer shut off the lights in the office and Papagni, Catota, and another officer allegedly grabbed the victim’s arms and legs and threw him on top of the office table. While Papagni, Catota and a third officer held the victim down, prosecutors say, Perez allegedly got on top of the victim’s mid-section and grinded his body against his genitals “in a motion simulating a sex act.”4
- And on Nov. 30, 2016, Federal prosecutors allege that a second victim was thrown on his side on the PERT office table by Catota, Papagni, and Perez. Two of the defendants held the victim down so a third could move “his genitals up and down on Victim Two’s left in simulation of a sex act.” 5
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is said to be investigating. And a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection said:
“We do not tolerate misconduct in our ranks and are committed to a safe workplace environment free of harassment or intimidation.”6
We will watch and inform you as this situation unfolds.
(This isn’t the first time the US Customs and Border Protection unit has been in the news. See the video below.)
