Agency Client Charged With Sexually Assaulting Staffer

VERNON, CT — A client from Manchester at a Vernon agency that provides "mentally and physically impaired adults" with "training and assistance" has been charged with sexual assault for an incident at the facility, his second sexual assault arrest in about two months' time, police said.

Hakeem Bazemore, 33, of Manchester, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with fourth-degree sexual assault and disorderly conduct. He was to appear in Rockville Superior Court later on Thursday, according to a report.

He was arrested on a warrant for an incident at the Whole Life agency in Vernon on Dec. 14. According to a warrant, a staff member who works one-on-one with Bazemore was in a "training" room with him that day. Bazemore asked if he could take a certain book home and the staffer said no, according to a warrant. Bazemore then allegedly came up behind the staffer as she was putting the book away and simulated a sex act on her, according to a warrant.

He approached her again and grabbed her pants while thrusting toward her, according to a warrant.

Bazemore's counselor told police he has a "mild intellectual disability" and "suffers from schizophrenia, impulse control disorder and intermittent explosive disorder," according to a warrant.

The staffer said she did not want to press charges at first, but after finding out he had been arrested on Sept. 2 for for fourth-degree sexual assault by state police out of the Troop K barracks, along with second-degree unlawful restraint and disorderly conduct, she changed her mind, according to a warrant.

The staffer told police that she believes Bazemore "poses a threat to women."

He has been free on a $25,000 bond for the state police arrest and is due in Manchester Superior Court on Nov. 6, according to judicial system records.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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