Georgia correctional officer arrested for sexual involvement with inmate, sheriff says
Leigh Lewis (Douglas County Sheriff's Office)
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. - A correctional officer working at the Douglas County Jail has been arrested after she was accused of having a sexual encounter with an inmate.
Officials with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office say deputies arrested Leigh Lewis on Wednesday and charged her with violation of her oath as a public officer and sexual assault by a correctional employee.
Officials say they began an investigation into Lewis when they received a letter from an inmate at the jail alleging that Lewis had been sexually involved with another inmate.
During their investigation, deputies say they reviewed video of the inmate's housing unit and corroborated the information in the letter.
Investigators then interviewed Lewis, who admitted that she had kissed and "performed oral sodomy" on an inmate in custody.
Lewis had worked for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office for a little over a year. She started as a dispatcher and then transferred to the Jail Division.
"When my officers do right, are within the law and my policy, I will stand by their side and fight with them all the way. I will not cave to political pressure or a court of public opinion. However, if one of them knowingly and willfully violates the law, and the public’s trust, this is what is going to happen to them," Douglas County Sheriff Tim Pounds said, "I have many great officers and I’m not going to allow one bad apple to spoil the bunch."
Lewis appeared before a Douglas County magistrate judge Thursday morning and was granted a $30,000 bond.