A 36-year-old corrections officer faces a felony charge for allegedly having sex with a female inmate while she was on a work-release assignment, Denver officials say.
Lashawn Terrell was charged with sexual assault in a penal institution and was released from jail on a $10,000 bond, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
Terrell is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with a female inmate from the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility from June to August, Kimbrough said.
Terrell worked at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, and he would have sex with the inmate when she went to the prison for work assignments, Kimbrough said.
Newly convicted inmates go to the diagnostic center for evaluation before being placed in prisons of different security levels across Colorado.
Brent Parker, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said investigators from DOC’s inspector general’s office and Denver police detectives worked on the case together.
Corrections officers who are inclined to do so can find plenty of opportunities to have illegal sexual contact with inmates, Parker said.
In most cases, they do not force the inmate to have sex, he said. But even if the sex is consensual, it is a felony offense because of the vulnerability of inmates, he said.
However, manipulative inmates often instigate such liaisons, Parker said.
“Once the offender gets what they want, then the game is telling,” he said.
Officers involved in inappropriate relationships can create problems for the vast majority of good officers, Parker said. Inmates can develop a misconception about the motives of all correctional officers, he said.
“When we have a guard who goes bad, we’re pretty happy to get rid of them,” Parker said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
