Sandy MaloneAlturas, CA – A former corrections officer at a at the Modoc County Jail in California was arrested on Saturday after an investigation by an outside agency revealed the corrections officers had been having sexual relations with multiple inmates.
It is against the law in California for correctional officers to engage in sexual activity with inmates, Gray News reported.
The law says an incarcerated individual cannot legally consent to sex with a corrections officer.
The investigation into what was going on inside the jail began after other staff members reported the alleged inappropriate conduct by 34-year-old Modoc County Corrections Officer Melanie Alicia Martin to supervisors at the facility run by the sheriff’s department, Gray News reported.
Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy said he took the allegations of sexual misconduct inside the Modoc County Jail very seriously, according to a press release from the sheriff’s department.
Sheriff Dowdy said he immediately asked an outside agency to investigate the allegations.
The investigation by the outside agency revealed that there was evidence that Corrections Officer Martin had engaged in sexual misconduct, KSAT reported.
In fact, investigators determined that the female corrections officer had engaged in sexual relations with multiple inmates over a period of time.
Sheriff Dowdy said deputies obtained a warrant for the arrest of former Corrections Officer Martin’s arrest on Sept. 10, Gray News reported.
She was taken into custody without incident, according to officials.
The Modoc County Sheriff’s Office said now-former Corrections Officer Martin was fired by the sheriff’s department before she was taken into custody.
She was arrested and booked into the Modoc County Jail where she previously worked as a corrections officer and committed the alleged crimes, KSAT reported.
Martin has been held on a $20,000 bail.
Modoc County is located in northeast California and borders both Oregon and Nevada, Gray News reported.
Holly Matkin
