Former Warren County prison guard indicted for sexual battery

Fairfield woman alleged to have had sexual contact with inmate in 2019.

— Another ex-Warren Correctional Institution prison guard has been indicted on charges of engaging in sexual conduct with inmates.

Amanda Smith, 37, of Fairfield is alleged to have had sexual contact with the unidentified inmate between Aug. 1 and Sept. 12, 2019. She is charged with sexual battery.

“She was picked up on phone calls with an inmate that revealed they had been involved in an ongoing sexual relationship,” Warren County Prosecutor David

Fornshell said in an email after the indictment was issued.

Smith had not been arrested, nor was she in custody on Monday afternoon, although a summons had been issued.

She is scheduled for arraignment on July 17 in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

She resigned on Jan. 25, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and

Correction.

Fornshell said such cases created several problems in prison.

“First, corrections officers and other prison employees are in positions of authority over these inmates,” Fornshell said.

The sexual battery law is designed “to eliminate the risk that these employees will exploit their authority and force the inmates to engage in sexual conduct under duress,” Fornshell added, comparing it with a teacher-student relationship in terms of “the imbalance of authority between the two.”

Fornshell said the other issue was “more residual.”

“Once a prison employee has crossed the boundary into an impermissible sexual relationship with an inmate, the inmate can then gain the balance of power in the relationship by threatening to disclose the sexual conduct. The inmate can then blackmail the employee to bring drugs and other contraband into the prison under the threat that the inmate will disclose the sexual conduct, thereby subjecting the employee to criminal charges.”

Contact this reporter at 937-610-7413 or email Larry.Budd@coxinc.com.