Alabama: Former Crenshaw County Jail Administrator Christian Alexander Porter, 33, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of excessive force, falsifying records and witness tampering on January 28, 2025. According to the Washington Post, the charges stem from an October 2021 incident in which Porter allegedly beat a handcuffed detainee in an examination room at the lockup. Afterward, he allegedly submitted a “false and misleading” use-of-force report, claiming the unnamed detainee “charged” at him. The indictment further accuses Porter of lying to state and federal investigators when he admitted that he took the detainee to the ground but omitted that he struck him. The deprivation of rights charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The falsification of records charge is punishable by up to 20 years, and the witness tampering charge carries a maximum of five years. Porter’s trial is scheduled for August 2025.

Alabama: WALA in Mobile reported that former Monroe County Jail guard Reginald Thames, 24, and an non-incarcerated accomplice, Beverly Castophney, 37, pleaded guilty on December 19, 2024, to conspiring to smuggle contraband into the lockup in January 2023. Castophney is the girlfriend of prisoner Vincent Lambert Jr., 38, who at the time was awaiting transfer to federal prison to serve an eight-year sentence for drug-dealing; she placed a package on Thames’ vehicle, and the guard agreed to deliver it to Lambert for $600. When it was discovered by fellow guards, they found that the package contained Adderall, cigarettes, a cell phone and a charger. Jail-monitored texts between Castophney and Lambert, along with CashApp transactions, then unraveled the scheme. Lambert pleaded guilty in November 2024 to his role and was set for sentencing in February 2025. At sentencing for Thames and Castophney the following month, they face up to 10 years, though prosecutors have recommended leniency.

Arizona: KPNX in Phoenix reported that the state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) fired an 11-year veteran counselor, Berman Comon, on January 3, 2025, when he was arrested and charged with smuggling drugs and contraband into the Lewis prison unit in Buckeye. The DCRR had launched an investigation five months earlier that turned up video evidence linking him to distributing “drugs and/or contraband” within the prison complex and the community, but specifics were not released. Comon was arraigned six days later on charges including narcotic drug possession for sale, drug transportation, two counts of taking contraband into a prison facility, conspiracy and illegal control of an enterprise. His bond was set at $75,000.

Arkansas: Former Jonesboro Police Department (JPD) Off. Joseph Tucker Harris, 29, was arrested on January 21, 2025, and charged with aggravated assault, filing a false report and third-degree battery, after video surfaced showing him brutally assaulting a handcuffed detainee. According to AP News, Harris was fired after the August 2024 incident, which occurred in a patrol car. The video showed Harris driving detainee Billy Lee Coram from a hospital to jail when Coram, still wearing a hospital gown, began choking himself with a seatbelt to dislodge a bag of fentanyl he had swallowed. Harris then pulled the vehicle over and assaulted the detainee, punching and elbowing him before slamming his head against the vehicle door. After his arrest, Harris was released on a $15,000 bond. Coram has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Harris, the city of Jonesboro and JPD Chief Rick Elliott of violating his civil rights. That suit is currently set for trial in May 2026, and PLN will share updates on developments as they become available. Coram is represented by Little Rock attorney Michael Kaiser of Lassiter & Cassinelli. See: Coram v. Harris, USDC (E.D. Ark.), Case No. 4:24-cv-00813.

California: According to KRCR in Redding, a supervising guard at Pelican Bay State Prison was seriously injured in an apparent murder attempt on the morning of January 30, 2025. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reported that prisoners Jose Gonzalez, 38, Richard Wilson, 32, and Luis Torres, 34, allegedly attacked the guard with a makeshift weapon in a dining hall. Other staffers responded, using pepper spray to break up the assault. The guard, identified on a GoFundMe page as Anthony Rivera, sustained cut and puncture wounds and was treated at an outside medical facility before being admitted for observation in the ICU. Gonzalez, Wilson, and Torres, all serving lengthy sentences for violent crimes, were transferred to restricted housing. The incident is under investigation by the CDCR, which will likely refer it to the office of Del Norte County District Attorney Katherine Micks for prosecution.

Democratic Republic of Congo: A mass escape from Goma’s Munzenze Central Prison on January 27, 2025, left over 160 prisoners dead, according to Caliber. The breakout occurred during intense fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels, who are reportedly supported by the government of neighboring Rwanda. Exploiting the chaos, prisoners attempted to escape en masse and set fire to parts of the overcrowded lockup. The fire killed at least 141 women prisoners and 28 of their children detained with them. A United Nations Human Rights Office spokesperson said more than 150 female prisoners were raped by escaping male prisoners and burned alive. Guards also shot and killed an unreported number of escaping prisoners. The prison, which previously held 4,400 prisoners, was completely empty by February 1, 2025, with guards deserting and much of the facility, including administrative offices, destroyed by fire and looting.

Florida: Former federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) guard Miguel Hidalgo, 34, pleaded guilty on January 2, 2024, to assaulting a handcuffed prisoner and breaking his ribs in August 2022 at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Coleman. According to the Miami Herald, Hidalgo’s attorney said that the prisoner, convicted terrorist Mufid Elfgeeh, spit on, kicked and threatened Hidalgo, triggering a PTSD “flashback” to his service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Video captured Hidalgo entering Elfgeeh’s cell, pushing him to the floor and striking him, even though the prisoner and his cellmate were both handcuffed at the time. The guard then left only to re-enter the cell and assault Elfgeeh again. His attorney expressed disappointment in the conviction, citing his client’s military service and PTSD, as well as his remorse. He also claimed two other guards assaulted Elfgeeh but were not charged. See: United States v. Hidalgo, USDC (M.D. Fla.), Case No. 5:23-cr-00053.

Florida: Demaurea Grant, 30, accused of killing off-duty Duval County jailer Brad McNew in October 2024, was indicted on an upgraded first-degree murder charge on January 28, 2025, according to WTLV. Grant remains jailed in North Carolina, awaiting extradition to Jacksonville. ­McNew, a 24-year veteran of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO), was shot at a truck stop on the city’s Northside after intervening in a domestic dispute captured on surveillance video. Grant allegedly fired the fatal shot while hanging out of a car window. Makayla Huggins, the car’s driver, was charged as an accessory after the fact and pled not guilty. Grant’s arrest followed a manhunt that led from north Florida to North Carolina. In addition to the murder charge, he faces indictments for discharging a firearm from a vehicle, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Florida: Also at the Duval County Jail, Jacksonville defense attorney Nathan Williams, 37, was arrested on January 5, 2024, and charged with taking bribes from detainees and their families to smuggle K2-laced legal documents into the lockup. The Florida Times-Union reported that the arrest stemmed from “Operation Stamp Collection,” an investigation launched in February 2024 following 23 overdoses at the jail the previous year. JSO Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey stated that Williams’ smuggling contributed to the overdoses. The investigation has resulted in 21 arrests, including that of Williams, a 16-year National Guard soldier. He was released on $14,000 bond.

Florida: After a failed contraband smuggling attempt at Martin Correctional Institution (CI) in Indiantown, Tarik Jean-Jourdain, 32, faces prison time, according to WPEC in West Palm Beach. Martin CI frequently makes the lists of Florida’s worst prisons because of violence, drug usage, overdoses and inadequate medical treatment. Jean-Jourdain was not incarcerated on November 27, 2024, when guards stopped and searched him and another individual in a restricted area near the prison around 11 p.m. The search turned up bags containing large quantities of cigarettes, alcohol, cell phones, chargers, clothing, toiletries, methamphetamine, K-2 and marijuana. Martin County Sheriff Bill Snyder stated that Jean-Jourdain likely communicated with a prisoner via illegal cell phone to coordinate the drop. Jean-Jourdain has outstanding warrants from Broward County, as well. He was being held in the Martin County jail without bond.

Florida: Disgraced reality TV star Todd Chrisley, 55, currently serving a 12-year sentence for bank fraud and tax evasion at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Pensacola, has asked Pres. Donald J. Trump (R) to pardon him and wife Julie, who received a seven-year sentence for the same charges, after a pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” sticker was allegedly removed from his cell by a BOP guard. Citing Chrisley attorney Jay Surgent, Page Six reported that the cell has been frequently searched—mattress flipped, clothes examined and books tossed—and that Pepsi was once poured onto his bed. In 2009, Forbes listed FPC-Pensacola as the second “cushiest” prison in America. It is one of six minimum-security camps that the BOP plans to close in 2025, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Feb. 2025, p.10.]

Georgia: Coweta County Prison and Work Release Center Warden Larry Charles Clifton was arrested and charged with simple battery under the Family Violence Act, after a domestic dispute at his home on January 15, 2025. He was released the same day on his own recognizance, the Newnan Times Herald reported, and then fired on January 24, 2025. The lockup operates independently from the office of Sheriff Lenn Wood, which provided no further details about the arrest. Clifton had worked for the County Corrections Division since October 1999, serving as jail chief since 2021. An investigation is ongoing.

Hawaii: Hawai’i Public Radio reported that former state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) guard Gilchrist Fernandez pleaded guilty to importation and attempted possession of fireworks on January 29, 2025. In 2022, Fernandez had nearly 95 pounds of aerial fireworks mailed to himself at work at Oahu Community Correctional Center—the largest lockup in the state—according to state attorney general Anne Lopez. No motive was clear, and Fernandez’s attorney, Myles Breiner, declined to comment.Fernandez faces up to three months’ imprisonment and a $5,000 fine at sentencing, currently scheduled for June 2025.

Indiana: Jacob Ewert, a seven-year veteran guard at the Morgan County Jail, was fired and charged with felony battery and official misconduct on January 28, 2025, WXIN in Indianapolis reported. The charges stem from an incident nine days earlier, when Ewert, 31, allegedly assaulted an unnamed detainee being prepared for transport. Video footage appeared to show Ewert tripping and forcefully pushing the detainee to the ground—even though he was not resisting, fellow guards reported. Ewert later admitted to investigators that his use of force was unnecessary. The detainee was hospitalized with facial and head injuries. County Sheriff Richard Myers did not say what led to the fight but asked that evidence from the investigation be sent to the County Prosecutor’s Office. A jury trial is set for July 2025.

Indiana: Jessica Lynn Warren, 35, a DOC community engagement coordinator at New Castle Correctional Facility (NCCF), was arrested for allegedly having sex with a prisoner—in the chapel baptismal closet—in October 2024. WXIN in Indianapolis said that Warren at first reported being coerced into sex with threats against her child. However, an investigation found hundreds of calls and messages between “Jennifer Robinson,” an alias that Warren used, and the unnamed prisoner. She even discussed marriage with the prisoner, who denied making threats but admitted to the sexual relationship. An investigation is ongoing.

Indiana: State prisoner Ty’Metri Campbell cut a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder on January 13, 2025, four days before his trial was to begin for the fatal 2021 stabbing of guard Lt. Gene Lasco at Indiana State Prison. The South Bend Tribune reported that Campbell was being escorted back to his cell when he broke free and attacked Lasco and fellow guard Padrick Schmitt, who was also stabbed and critically injured. The prisoner blamed his drug use, as well as fear for his life, blackouts and paranoid thoughts. He agreed to receive life without parole for Lasco’s murder and 30 years for Schmitt’s attempted murder in addition to the 130-year term that he was already serving for a 2002 triple murder. LaPorte County Prosecutor Sean Fagan cited the difficulty of pursuing the death penalty and the potential for appeals as reasons for not seeking it. Sentencing was scheduled for January 31, 2025.

Louisiana: According to KLFY in Lafayette, Iberia Parish Jail guard Brittney Davis was arrested for contraband smuggling on January 29, 2025. Earlier in the month, after guards discovered a cellphone in the lockup, the jail Investigations Unit uncovered evidence that Davis was in contact with an unnamed detainee and the two were planning to smuggle unidentified contraband. Davis was also accused of knowing about other contraband previously smuggled into the jail and failing to report it, which Parish Sheriff Tommy Romero called “unacceptable.” Davis was booked into the St. Martin Parish Jail on $25,000 bond.

Mexico: According to Revista ­Merca2.0 (Marketing 2.0 Magazine), authorities at Aguaruto Penitentiary Center in Sinaloa seized a Starlink satellite system—used to create an internet “hotspot” connection—during a routine inspection on February 4, 2025. The early morning raid, conducted by multiple Mexican law enforcement agencies, including the State Public Security Secretariat (SSPE), uncovered the modem. Other more low-tech contraband, such as bottles of alcohol, a machete, a knife, two pairs of scissors, three screwdrivers and two hammers, were found as well. Starlink was developed by SpaceX, the rocket and aerospace firm founded and run by mega-billionaire Elon Musk, who recently criticized the Mexican government’s handling of drug trafficking allegations. The Sinaloa lockup is notorious for corruption, violence and security breaches. In December 2024, the prison’s warden was replaced due to links to the Jalisco Cartel.

Missouri: KRCG in Jefferson City reported on January 14, 2025, that former Tipton Correctional Center guard Jessica Baird was charged with sexual conduct in the course of public duty after she was accused of having sex with an unnamed prisoner in October 2024. A state Department of Corrections (DOC) investigation confirmed the illicit liaison, which went down in an employee restroom in the prisoner’s housing unit. The prisoner also confirmed that the couple had sex in the bathroom. Baird reportedly admitted to kissing and having sex with him while on duty, after which she was fired. A warrant for her arrest was issued with a $1,000 cash-only bond.

New York: An Oneida County Jail transport vehicle crashed in Westmoreland on January 26, 2025, injuring two guards and two detainees. Advance Local Media in Syracuse reported that another driver lost control of her car and crossed into the transport’s lane, colliding with it. Transport driver Barry Bray and fellow guard Scott Holbert, along with detainees Michael Santiago and Timothy Milne, were hospitalized with non-fatal injuries. The other driver, July Isaac, 36, was not hurt. She was ticketed for unsafe speed and failure to maintain her lane.

New York: Upstate Correctional Facility (UCF) in Malone reopened on February 4, 2025, after a multi-day lockdown. Lockdown began on January 22, 2025, after an intoxicated prisoner got in a fight with a fellow prisoner and was taken to the medical unit, the Plattsburg Press-Republican reported. He was subdued after multiple doses of Narcan, but 11 guards, eight nurses and a civilian experienced dizziness, vomiting, high blood pressure and fainting. Two of the nurses were given Narcan, and all were treated at a hospital and released. Three days later, similar symptoms affected staff treating an unresponsive prisoner, with one guard and a nurse requiring Narcan. HAZMAT teams were unable to identify the substances. None of those involved were named. The guards union decried drug detection methods and safety protocols at the state Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) lockup, noting a 55% increase in contraband seized in 2024. A facility-wide search of UCF during the investigation yielded 11 weapons and 75 other pieces of contraband.

New York: Former state DOCCS guard Jorge Luis Torres, 28, was arrested on February 7, 2025, after he was indicted for smuggling cellphones and other contraband to prisoners held at Eastern Correctional Facility (ECF) in Napanoch. The Kingston Daily Freeman reported that the former guard was paid bribes as high as $1,500 for each smuggled phone. A sweep of the lockup in 2024 recovered 30 phones from prisoners, DOCCS said, though it was unclear how many were provided by Torres. It was also unclear when and how his employment with the agency ended. He was charged with two felony counts of knowingly introducing dangerous contraband in prison and held in the Ulster County Jail without bond. Several unnamed ECF prisoners were also indicted in County Court for possessing the devices.

North Carolina: A manhunt for detainee John Matthew Nigh ended on February 11, 2025, two weeks after he crawled through the Craven County Jail ventilation system and escaped on January 26, 2025—his 37th birthday. WRAL in Raleigh said that he was found at the home of his fiancée, Cameron Laughinghouse, 30; she was charged with harboring a fugitive and obstruction of justice. WCTI in New Bern said that jailers didn’t immediately discover Nigh’s absence because cellmates Justin Axe, 32, and Timothy Carawan, 35, stuffed a mattress in his bed to appear as if he were sleeping in it. They were also charged with aiding the escape. Sheriff Chip Hughes announced an internal investigation, too. Nigh had been jailed since June 2024 for allegedly shooting at Hughes’ deputies. U.S. Marshals and the State Bureau of Investigation had offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Nigh, who is 6’2”, 190 lbs., with distinctive tattoos. Afterward, Sheriff Davis posted on his department’s Facebook page that he and Nigh “had a good conversation during his arrest.”

Ohio: According to WKBN in Youngstown, Columbiana County Jail guard Clint Reynolds, Jr., 26, avoided assault charges by pleading no contest to disorderly conduct on January 6, 2025. The plea deal, reached in County Municipal Court, stemmed from an incident in October 2024, when an unnamed detainee being released discovered his wedding ring had been cut into pieces since it was confiscated at his booking. He insisted on seeing a supervisor, and Reynolds pushed him, which caused him to fall. Fellow guards claimed the detainee took a swing at Reynolds, but surveillance video showed that was a lie. For using excessive force on a detainee, Reynolds was fined $150. The jail is privately operated by Correctional Solutions Group LLC, which did not comment on Reynolds’ employment status. It was the second excessive force case at the jail in as many months, and surveillance cameras captured another guard, David James Ferguson-Grantz, 26, assaulting two handcuffed detainees in separate September 2024 incidents. He is awaiting trial on two assault charges, Salem News reported.

Ohio: WEWS in Cleveland reported that Lorain County Jail guard Brian Tellier was suspended with pay on January 4, 2025, for assaulting a detainee and leaving him paralyzed in 2023. As PLN reported, Jeffrey Fry had been picked up on nothing more than a misdemeanor warrant for not paying a fine when Tellier slammed the handcuffed detainee into a wall and broke his neck. [See: PLN, July 2024, p.16.] Surveillance video captured Tellier hip-checking the victim into a concrete-and-glass wall, giving the lie to contradictory testimony from other jail staffers. Fry filed suit in January 2024 against Lorain County for its abusive jailer and and Lifecare Ambulance, claiming his neck was not stabilized before transport to a hospital. See: Fry v. Stammitti, USDC (N.D. Ohio), Case No. 1:24-cv-00126.An investigation is underway by the newly created corrections inspector general in the office of County Sheriff Jack M. Hall, who was also newly elected in November 2024. The FBI is investigating, too.

Ohio: The Columbus Dispatch reported that Franklin County Jail detainee Dillan Bush, 22, was sentenced to over 20 years in prison on January 30, 2025, for orchestrating a drive-by shooting from his cell. Bush pleaded guilty to felonious assault, attempted murder, weapons charges, drug possession and discharging a firearm near a prohibited premise. In August 2023, multiple homes in the Westland area of Columbus were targeted in drive-by shootings, leaving one resident with multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators linked the shootings to Bush, who was attempting to target a released juvenile offender, Cole Parker, Jr., for accidentally killing Bush’s brother in 2019. Recorded jail calls also captured threats Bush made to a potential witness. Investigators additionally found that he communicated with and paid accused accomplice Nuh Mohamed Ali, 24, who is awaiting trial for carrying out the shootings; it was the accomplice’s confession that he took money from Bush which led to the charges. But Bush was already in the lockup for unrelated weapons charges. His jail phone privileges were restricted for seven months, though he was allowed to communicate with his mother. He must also pay over $3,300 in restitution to victims.

Oklahoma: D’Shaunn Dixon, a former state DOC guard at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center (MBCC) who is currently incarcerated at Pottawatomie County jail for having sex with a MBCC prisoner, was scheduled for arraignment at the end of January 2025 on new charges of having sex with a second prisoner. KOCO in Oklahoma City said that Dixon was first arrested and charged with first-degree rape in March 2024 after video surfaced of him having sex with his victim in a prison janitorial closet. The DOC then launched an investigation during which the victim confirmed Dixon’s identity and that he traded contraband for sex. Dixon was fired and arrested and then a second prisoner came forward with similar allegations, leading to new charges of second-degree rape and forcible oral sodomy filed in November 2024. State Rep. J.J. Humphreys (R-Lane), who conducted a study of problems in the DOC in 2024, called for more transparency. “People ought to be appalled at what’s going on” in the DOC, he said, vowing that he would “not stop going after them.”

Oklahoma: Caddo County Jail detainee Levi Keeton Yeahpau, 37, escaped during an appearance at the County Courthouse on January 21, 2025. KOCO in Oklahoma City said that he exploited a “miscommunication” between guards and walked out unnoticed, despite wearing leg and hand restraints and an orange jumpsuit. He was recaptured in Anadarko the following day by city cops, along with agents from the District 6 Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and deputies of County Sheriff Spencer W. Davis. Also arrested were Tana Circles and Traesha Hopgood, who were charged with harboring the fugitive. Yeahpau now faces additional charges of obstructing and assaulting a police officer.

Pennsylvania: On January 24, 2025, state DOC prisoner Joshua Lucas Hall, 22, was sentenced by an Indiana County judge to serve 12 to 24 additional months for spitting on a guard at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) in Pine Grove. WFMZ in Allentown reported that Hall pleaded guilty to third-degree felony aggravated harassment on December 8, 2024, for spitting on the guard who was escorting him in the prison’s restrictive housing unit in September 2024. He was serving a three-year term for an earlier weapons violation conviction, and it was unclear why he was in isolation, which has been shown to have extremely detrimental effects on prisoners. With no apparent sense of irony, Indiana County District Attorney Robert F. Manzi Jr. remarked that guards “face a difficult work environment.”

Pennsylvania: Former Erie County Prison guard Lt. Mark A. Lindsey was sentenced to 30 days probation and community service on January 8, 2025, after pleading guilty to misdemeanor harassment charges for assaulting a detainee, according to the Erie Times-News. As PLN reported, Lindsay turned off his body camera before reaching through the food tray slot in the door of a “containment cage” to punch detainee Habib Ali Sharif, 29, who was shackled at the time. [See: PLN, Nov. 2024, p.62.] Surveillance video captured the incident, and in July 2024, Lindsey was fired and charged. Misdemeanor charges of official oppression and simple assault were later dropped. Incredibly, the prosecutor expressed concern that the harassment charge would remain on Lindsey’s record and prevent future law enforcement employment. Sharif faces separate charges for allegedly threatening prison staff and spitting on a jail nurse in a June 2024 incident that apparently provoked Lindsey’s retaliatory assault.

South Carolina: BOP guard Angela Crosland, 51, was convicted on January 28, 2025, of running a bribery and drug smuggling scheme at FCI-Williamsburg. According to WBTV in Florence, jurors at the two-day trial saw evidence that Crosland smuggled prisoners contraband, including drugs, tobacco and food, collecting bribes in return through CashApp totaling $56,791 over a nine-month period. She was then found guilty of bribery, money laundering, methamphetamine and suboxone distribution, as well as filing false tax returns. See: United States v. Crosland, USDC (D.S.C.), Case No. 4:23-cr-00898.

Tajikistan: Five prisoners affiliated with the Islamic State were killed during an attempted escape from a penal colony near the capital city of Dushanbe on February 3, 2025. New Arab reported that nine prisoners armed with shanks and homemade knives attacked guards during the escape attempt; the condition of the other four was not immediately clear. Three guards were seriously injured, and the prison director was hospitalized. Unverified video footage allegedly showed dead prisoners lying in pools of blood, one wearing a flag bearing the DAESH acronym for the Islamic State. A law enforcement source also confirmed that the dead prisoners were DAESH members, convicted for ties to the banned group and the Jihadi Salafi movement. A Central Asia analyst claimed that DAESH supporters briefly raised the group’s flag over the prison. However, no group officially claimed responsibility. There were similar DAESH-related prison riots in Tajikistan in 2019 and 2018. An investigation into the escape attempt is underway.

Tennessee: Former Dickson County Jail guard supervisor Calvin Wayne Lewis, 41, who already faced three counts of sexual contact with a prisoner, was indicted in December 2024 on seven additional counts, including promoting prostitution, vandalism and official misconduct, the Portland Sun reported. County Sheriff Tim Eads insisted that “these are serious charges,” adding that he and fellow jailers “have a code of ethics, code of conduct and you cannot do that. It is highly inappropriate, and it is a crime.” In March 2024, the state Bureau of Investigation began looking into allegations that Lewis traded favors like vapes for sex with detainees and prisoners. Lewis, who previously worked for 17 years at the state DOC, was hired at the jail in 2023, and he had been promoted to Security Sergeant just months before the allegations surfaced. He was fired following an internal investigation by Eads’ office.

United Kingdom: The Daily Mail reported that a record 19 prison guards in England and Wales were charged with misconduct in public office during 2023-24 for having sex with prisoners. The number of misbehaving guards was obtained from the U.K. Ministry of Justice (MOJ) via Freedom of Information data requests; it was the highest annual number of such charges in a decade that saw a total of 121 guards accused of inappropriate relationships since 2013. PLN reported the recent case of Wandsworth prison guard Linda De Sousa Abreu, who was jailed for 15 months for having a prisoner film her having sex with his cellmate in their cell and then posting the video online to the OnlyFans adult channel she maintained with her husband. [See: PLN, Sep. 2024, p.61.] Since 2013, nearly 5,000 guards have been charged with misconduct, including facilitating escapes and smuggling contraband; the 2023-24 period also marked the 10-year high point for these charges. MOJ vowed to take strong action against corrupt guards.

Utah: Utah County Jail guard Timothy Daniel Keeton, 40, was fired and charged with custodial sexual relations on January 29, 2025. KSLT in Salt Lake City reported that Keeton allegedly engaged in sexual relationships with two women he met while they were incarcerated, providing them his personal contact information and meeting up with them after they were released to a sober living program on probation. One prisoner reported having sex with Keeton just two weeks after her release. He faces three counts, including two felonies, for violating state law prohibiting sexual relations between law enforcement and “individuals under correctional supervision,” which includes parolees and probationers.  

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