Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - More than a dozen Louisville Metro Corrections employees we've reported on have been arrested, fired, demoted or suspended for separate acts of misconduct since the middle of last year.
In the latest case, the suspect is accused of having an ongoing sexual relationship with an inmate we've been told may have begun more than two months ago.
The frequent visits to a particular inmate’s cell were what sparked the investigation.
The victim, a woman in a single cell, had reportedly been getting those visits several times a week from corrections officer James Mikesell.
A warrant we obtained indicates that Mikesell allegedly engaged in oral sex with the victim inside her cell on multiple occasions.
He allegedly obtained a towel from an inmate work aid to clean up after encounters and later threw the towels away in an employee bathroom.
In Kentucky, it is illegal for guards to have sexual relations with inmates.
“It's an official misconduct. That's why the charge is there,” said Louisville Metro Police Department Spokesman Dwight Mitchell.
But there have been other recent allegations of sex between guards and present or former inmates at Metro Corrections.
Starvo Stachoulas was suspended for 25 days last summer for contacting female inmates after their release and engaging in a sexual relationship with at least one of them.
Officer Anthony Moore was arrested in August after allegedly trading chocolate, coffee, cigarettes and cash for sex while working at the community corrections center.
Condoms with his fingerprints on them were found in the drop ceiling in his office.
“Officers, whether they be at corrections, or regular officers or sheriff's deputies, it's always difficult when that happens,” said Mitchell “But, we're a microcosm of society with different people. “
Corrections Director Mark Bolton says he can't speak to this specific incident, since it's under investigation.
But he issued a statement saying "Metro Corrections has a zero tolerance policy regarding inappropriate relationships between staff and inmates. We will not tolerate it."
The jail's policy calls for termination if a relationship is proven.
We went the address listed on Mikesell's arrest report, but no one answered.
I later spoke to him on the phone, but he didn't want to comment.
Mikesell is charged with one felony, tampering with evidence, in connection with disposing of the towel.
He's also charged with a misdemeanor count of sexual abuse.
