Inmate files false report, is accused of assault

A Carbon County inmate is facing additional charges after he first accused a corrections officer of sexually assaulting him and then assaulting another inmate a few days later.

Christian Kipp, 33, who is incarcerated at the Nesquehoning prison, was charged with retaliation against a witness, simple assault, harassment and providing false information to law enforcement.

According to the affidavits filed by Nesquehoning police, on Nov. 25, officer Timothy Wuttke received a call from the prison stating that Kipp was reporting that a female corrections officer sexually assaulted him the day before by grabbing him during a confrontation.

The corrections officer in question stated there was no confrontation with Kipp and she only removed a water bag from that pod.

Kipp told police he had issues with the corrections officer in the past and retold the encounter, but later changed details and admitted that he did not think the action was sexual in nature, but decided to file the report because he was upset about her coming into the all-male unit and removing the water bag.

Surveillance footage from the cube area shows the officer enter the area, but is only in where Kipp is for 9 seconds and leaves with the water bag he said she took and Kipp never moved during the video.

Police interviewed several other inmates in Kipp’s cube, and four said there was no confrontation between Kipp and the officer.

On Dec. 15, police again spoke to Kipp, who again said the incident happened, but details conflicted with the surveillance video and others’ testimony.

A few days later, on Nov. 28, a second affidavit filed by Nesquehoning police says officer Richard Neikam was called to the correctional facility for a reported assault on another inmate.

Prison staff said Kipp started the fight with the victim because he was upset that he gave a witness statement regarding the alleged sexual assault a few days earlier.

The victim told police Kipp was angry over inmates “sticking up for female corrections officers” and directed the anger toward the victim, striking him multiple times before being restrained by prison staff.