D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services Employee Charged with Sexual Abuse

Kelvin Powell Arrested

            WASHINGTON – Kelvin Powell, 61, an employee of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, is charged by indictment, unsealed today in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, with sexual abuse of and abusive sexual contact with a minor in his care. FBI agents arrested Powell this morning. The indictment and arrest were announced by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office David Sundberg.

            The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) is the government agency in the District of Columbia responsible for the supervision, custody, and care of young people detained while pending charges for a delinquent act. According to the eight-count indictment, between December 2021 and February 2022, while employed as a Youth Development Representative at DYRS, Kelvin Powell sexually abused a minor (“Person A”) who was detained and residing at the facility where Powell worked.

            Powell is charged with four counts of sexual abuse of a ward and four counts of abusive sexual contact. Each count of sexual abuse of a ward carries a maximum possible penalty of 15 years in prison; each count of abusive sexual contact carries a maximum possible penalty of two years in prison. Powell was first arrested in March of 2022 on charges of sexual abuse of a minor filed in D.C. Superior Court.             

            This investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information about similar conduct involving Kelvin Powell or others is encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5342).

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Visser and Cara Gardner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

            An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.