Tennessee Corrections Officer Charged with Obstructing Investigation Into Allegations of Sexual Misconduct with an Inmate

A Columbia, Tennessee, man was charged today with obstructing an investigation into allegations that he sexually abused an inmate in his custody.

James Stewart Thomas, 31, a corrections officer with the Maury County Jail, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of falsification of records.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee made the announcement.

According to the indictment, Thomas wrote an official report in which he falsely claimed that he had reported to two Maury County Jail supervisors that an inmate had made sexual advances toward him while the inmate was in his custody at a hospital; falsely claimed that those two Maury County Jail supervisors both advised him not to write a report about those alleged sexual advances by the inmate; and omitted that he had a sexual relationship with the inmate after the inmate’s release from the custody of the Maury County Jail.

If convicted, Thomas faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The FBI investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Klopf of the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Kyle Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.