Indiana Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Corruption, County Pays $328,000 to Jail Detainees for “Night of Terror”
by Douglas Ankney
In federal court for the Southern District of Indiana on April 11, 2024, Clark County officials agreed to pay $328,000 to settle claims filed by 25 former detainees for sexual assault at the county jail in October 2021, during the tenure of former Sheriff Jamey Noel. He then pleaded guilty to unrelated corruption charges on August 27, 2024.
Three complaints filed by the former detainees alleged that overnight on October 23-24, 2021, former guard David Lowe took $1,000 to give keys to detainee Jordan Parker Sykes, allowing him and fellow detainees from the men’s side of the lockup to access and attack the 25 Plaintiffs. As PLN reported, Lowe was fired and is awaiting trial, along with Sykes, on criminal charges stemming from the “night of terror”—which Noel launched a now-defunct website to downplay, calling the victims’ claims overblown. [See: PLN, June 2023, p.25.]
However, the victims alleged that they were harassed, abused and sexually assaulted for hours by the male detainees who hid their identities behind masks. The women said they were attacked in their beds, in bathrooms, and in dark corners of the pod where they were hiding, adding that the men threatened to kill them if they called for help. Finally, around 2:00 a.m., one woman was able to hit an emergency call button. The attackers fled as guards showed up. Unbelievably, though, it was the women initially punished for their “outburst,” confined to their cells and personal property confiscated, including bedding and hygiene items, their complaints recalled. Under the settlement, 15 victims received $10,000 each, with the rest getting up to $25,000 each. The payments included fees and costs for their attorneys, Bart M. Betteau of New Albany and William P. McCall III of Jeffersonville. See: Coomer v. Lowe, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 4:22-cv-00079; Hill v. Maples, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 4:23-cv-00033; and Doe 4 v. Maples, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 4:23-cv-00034.
Meanwhile, Noel was arrested in November 2023, after State Police found he embezzled funds from Utica Volunteer Firefighters Association (UVFA) and New Chapel EMS to buy luxury items for himself, including a plane, personal cars, vacations and clothing—even college tuition and child support for his children. At least $33,000 of public funds was diverted to local election campaigns run by fellow Republicans. Noel was charged with money laundering, corrupt business influence, official misconduct, obstruction of justice and ghost employment; a superseding indictment in February 2024 added theft and tax evasion charges. He was freed on $75,000 cash bond until a March 2024 search of his home turned up prohibited firearms. A furious Clark County Circuit Court Special Judge Larry Metlock then threw him in jail for 60 days for contempt of court and upped his bond to $1.5 million, as PLN also reported. [See: PLN, July 2024, p.31.]
Noel pleaded guilty to all charges except ghost employment on August 27, 2024. If his plea agreement is accepted by the court, he will spend 12 years in prison followed by three years on probation, with credit for time served in jail since June 8, 2024, when his 60-day contempt sanction expired. His daughter, Kasey, and now-former wife, Misty, are scheduled for trial on theft and tax evasion charges in late October 2024. They are accused of using UVFA credit cards to spend over $100,000 of public money on their own clothing, tanning, cosmetics, manicures and pedicures, plus tickets, trips, alcohol, vaping products, Netflix and Amazon shopping sprees —as well as failing to report any of it as income and pay taxes. In addition, State Police have seized several classic cars from Noel’s collection after determining that he bought them with UVFA funds and falsified dates on the car titles to cover his tracks.
Additional sources: Franklin Daily Journal, WDRB, WHAS, WLKY
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