The correction officer accused of raping a woman while posing as a television producer coerced four women held on Rikers Island into a sexually-charged sick game of “Simon Says,” a new lawsuit alleges.
Anthony Martin Jr. ordered then-detainee Jessica Brenner and three other women in the Rose M. Singer Center into a locked room in June 2023 where he made Brenner pull down her pants and “twerk” while another detainee “humped” her and “smacked her ass,” Brenner’s lawsuit filed Sept. 13 in Manhattan federal court alleges.
Martin then tried to lean on Brenner to sign a document claiming nothing happened, the lawsuit alleges. Brenner told The News she decided to come forward after she learned of Martin’s rape arrest.
“I felt like if I had said more at the time, maybe that wouldn’t have happened,” she said. “A lot of times, women aren’t believed. This is a power trip for him. He doesn’t have to do it, but he chooses to do it.”
Martin was busted by police April 5 for the unrelated rape of a woman at his apartment, as the Daily News first reported, and then indicted by a grand jury in Queens on Aug 26 on first degree rape charges. The victim thought Martin was a TV producer and she was appearing for an audition.
Since then, another woman previously held in the Singer Center has alleged Martin accosted her in a stock room at the jail in early 2020 and sexually assaulted her after asking her if she wanted to “play,” the lawsuit alleges. She was later transferred to the Bedford Hills prison for women where she reported the assault in May 2021, the lawsuit alleges.
Martin, however, remained in the Singer Center without apparent repercussions for the next three years despite the complaints.
“The Department of Correction’s failure to take any action at least after [the 2021] complaint caused the sexual abuse of Ms. Brenner,” Brenner’s lawyer Leo Glickman said. “In turn, their failure to turn the matter over to a competent law enforcement agency for the crimes he was committing caused a woman to be raped in his home in 2024.”
Annais Morales, a DOC spokeswoman, declined to comment on pending litigation.
“The NYC Department of Correction takes claims of sexual misconduct seriously, and such behavior will not be tolerated,” Morales said. “Allegations made against an employee or person in custody are investigated thoroughly, and if necessary, referred to outside agencies.”
Martin’s lawyer Steven Gaitman declined comment on the allegations in the new lawsuit. “My client has professed his innocence of the charges for which I represent him in Supreme Court since day one and we are looking forward to his trial,” he said referring to the criminal case.
Brenner, now 35 with a 3-year-old daughter, had been a dental hygienist before the pandemic. She developed a drug problem and was arrested May 13, 2023 for shoplifting in Manhattan and skipping a court date. She was remanded to the Singer Center where she was assigned to sanitation duty.
For two weeks, as they worked for Martin and another correction officer, there were no issues, though Brenner claims she was aware of allegations against Martin, the lawsuit alleges.
“It was known in the jail and he even talked about it, that he had just beaten a (sexual misconduct) case,” Brenner said. “Other girls mentioned it.”
On June 20, 2023, Brenner and three women spent their shift moving files from old boxes to new ones. At the end of the shift, Martin took them to an empty office where he locked the door and told them they would play “Simon Says.” The lawsuit claims Martin ordered Brenner to turn her back and drop her pants and underwear to expose her buttocks. He then ordered her to “twerk” and told another of the women to “hump” Brenner and to “smack her ass,” the lawsuit claims.
“What was I supposed to do, he’s a big man, he’s an officer,” Brenner said.
Brenner claims Martin may have also “touched or fondled” her buttocks, the lawsuit says. Brenner then refused to be pressured any further and pulled up her pants. Martin took them back to their cells.
The lawsuit claims one of the women told her counselor about the incident. The counselor told a captain. The captain then spoke to Martin, the lawsuit claims. But Martin remained in place.
“I don’t understand why he wasn’t at least removed from the housing unit,” Brenner said. “Two weeks later, he was still there to escort me to Temple.”
As he took Brenner to synagogue services, the lawsuit claims, Martin demanded she write a statement which said nothing had happened.
“He was like, ‘You know I didn’t do anything,” Brenner said. “He was trying to play it down.”
About a month later, on July 18, 2023, Brenner was transferred to Nassau County jail for a court date. But she ended up spending a month-and-a-half there without any of her personal possessions.
“I found it very peculiar I was there for so long. It felt like it was because I had complained about Martin,” Brenner said. “I didn’t have my paperwork, my clothes, a daughter’s pictures, any money.”
On Sept. 11, 2023, Brenner was released from jail and wound up in a homeless shelter, the lawsuit claims.
Brenner returned to Rikers in November 2023 after she was caught in a closed restaurant at 2 a.m. using the bathroom, she says. Investigators finally spoke with her about the incident with Martin.
“I know he was transferred to a men’s jail, but I don’t know what happened after that,” she said.
Brenner is now in drug treatment and said her criminal cases will be dismissed once she completes the program.
After his April arrest, Martin was suspended without pay, correction officials said. He posted bail and was released. He is expected in court again on the rape case on Oct. 18.
