LOGAN — A 64-year-old Logan man already facing several drug crimes is now being charged with groping a female inmate in the Cache County Jail. David Keith Hemmert has been incarcerated since being arrested June 14.
According to an arrest report, on June 24, Hemmert allegedly inappropriately touched the woman while the two were sitting on a bench in the transport hallway of the jail. Both had just returned from court and were waiting to be moved back into their cells.
The alleged victim said Hemmert put his hand behind her and started rubbing the lower part of her back and buttocks. She told him, she was married and wasn’t interested in his advances.
The woman contacted jail deputies and reported the incident after returning to her cell. She said Hemmert’s actions caused her to feel violated and triggered.
Surveillance video showed the suspect sitting next to the alleged victim. His hands were behind the woman and out of view of cameras, until she stood up, and appeared to be in the position to touch her lower back and buttocks.
Investigators questioned Hemmert, who denied the allegations. He claimed that it was normal for him to stretch his hands behind him due to arthritis. He also said he lacks feeling in his fingers and if he touched the woman, he did not feel it, the probable cause statement read.
Hemmert was arraigned Friday, June 28, in Logan’s 1st District Court, appearing by video from jail. He was charged with sexual battery, a class B misdemeanor. He was appointed a public defender and ordered to appear again in court July 29.
Court records show, Hemmert is a prior sex-offender. He is being held in jail without bail while the cases against him proceed through the court system.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.