Authorities discovered the goof when they investigated Saldana's claim that a male correctional officer forced Saldana to perform oral sex on him. Police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said yesterday that detectives closed their investigation into that claim this week without charging the correctional officer. She didn't have details on the case, and Capt. John Darby, commander of the Special Victims Unit, couldn't be reached for comment.
Saldana, 23, now is being housed in a male jail separate from the general population, awaiting trial on Oct. 31 in an unrelated aggravated assault case.
That no one noticed Saldana's genitalia, despite multiple strip searches and at least two medical exams, concerned prison officials, who noted that thorough strip and cavity searches are the prison system's primary weapons against contraband.
While the case cost officials embarrassment and headaches, it soon could cost taxpayers money.
Jabreena Barnett, a female inmate who shared a cell with Saldana for five weeks, has filed a claim against the city seeking unspecified damages, alleging that Saldana and city officials violated her civil rights and privacy by forcing her to live with a man.
Barnett, 34, said she told several correctional officers of her doubts about Saldana's anatomical gender but never filed a formal complaint.
"There was definitely something off - she had big calves, broad shoulders, no butt - but she had a lot of feminine ways," Barnett said, adding that Saldana hid behind a chair when using the toilet and wore undergarments to the shower.
Barnett accused Saldana of grabbing her breasts to express admiration for them, a claim her attorney said demonstrates sexual harassment and unwanted touching.
"I find it hard to believe, no matter what kind of magician you are, unless this person had a sex change, that somebody didn't know about this," her attorney Brian Humble said.
