Jail inmate charged with attempted sexual battery of another inmate

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Robert James Thomas, 47, an inmate in the Alachua County Jail, has been charged with attempted sexual battery of another inmate in the shower.

The victim told an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy that there were three escalating incidents in the communal showers, starting on November 17, when Thomas grabbed his buttocks in the shower stalls. On November 18, Thomas allegedly grabbed the victim’s genitals.

The victim said he continued using the showers at the same time as Thomas, in spite of these incidents, because there is an unofficial “rule,” enforced by the inmates, that inmates who openly identify as homosexual have to use the showers at a specific time. The victim said, however, that he knew he had to say something after Thomas attempted to penetrate him anally on November 19; he said the attempt did not succeed because the victim pushed Thomas away.

The deputy reviewed video clips from each incident and reported that Thomas and the victim were the only occupants of the shower stalls at the time of the incidents. The deputy reported that the videos of the first and third incidents show Thomas in the camera’s view before he moves toward the victim and then quickly runs back to his stall. The deputy reported that the video of the second incident shows Thomas approaching the victim and standing within a few inches of the victim, with one hand out of view of the camera; the victim can be seen turning away and saying something to Thomas before raising an outstretched hand and pointing back to Thomas’s stall. Thomas quickly walks back to the stall where he started.

Post Miranda, Thomas reportedly admitted to sexual contact with the victim but claimed that it was consensual. He then asked for an attorney and declined to answer any more questions.

Thomas has been charged with attempted sexual battery. He has four felony convictions and has been in the Alachua County Jail since January 12, 2023, when he was arrested for sexual battery of a 14-year-old. He was found mentally incompetent to proceed with trial in September 2023 and was found competent to proceed in April 2025 and then found incompetent to proceed again in July 2025. However, he did not qualify for commitment to a state mental hospital at that time, and Meridian Behavioral Healthcare was ordered to begin competency training sessions at the Alachua County Jail. A six-month review of his ability to proceed with trial is scheduled for January 15.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.