An accused child molester is suing the city for $30 million because Rikers Island jail bosses allegedly won’t let him practice his Wiccan religion behind bars.
Roberto Nieves, 47, charged with sodomy, says he’s being denied his constitutional right to practice his religion. The modern-day Merlin is suffering “extreme emotional distress,” according to his Brooklyn federal-court lawsuit.
Nieves says guards confiscated books his brother brought him, including a “Wiccan Bible,” his Book of Shadows and a 1987 book called “The Chalice and The Blade.”
Correction officers declared the tomes “detrimental” to other inmates, Nieves claims. When the inmate protested, a guard told him “Wicca was not a religion because she looked it up on the computer,” according to court papers.
Often referred to as modern-day witches, Wiccans worship nature and use their Book of Shadows to pass down their rituals and rites.
Nieves — who was arrested January in Brooklyn in a case involving a child under the age of 13, prosecutors said — filed a grievance and was eventually given the books, but he wants to make sure future locked-up wizards don’t suffer.
“As of this day, Rikers does not offer any program whatsoever so that I may exercise my religion just like the Christians, Muslims, Catholics and the Jewish community here at Rikers Island,” he griped.