A former worker at a county jail in Toledo, Iowa, has been arrested for having sexual contact with an inmate.
Investigators in Iowa say that 27-year-old Kayla Bergom did sexual things with a 29-year-old inmate she didn’t know while she worked at the Tama County Jail. KCRG said that Bergom is accused of having sexual relations with an inmate in a utility closet and in the jail’s recreation yard more than once. Court documents say that the two did these things for more than seven months, from September 2020 to April 2021. Bergom is being charged with three counts of sexual misconduct.
The sheriff of Tama County, Dennis Kucera, told The Gazette that Bergom worked at the jail for three years before she quit and was charged in May. The date for her trial is August 12. The former jail worker has pleaded not guilty, so he or she could go to jail for up to six years. It is also not clear if the person is still in jail.
Interrogating Justice, which is a non-profit think tank, says “Federal law says that prison guards can’t have sex with people who are in jail. This is because people who are in jail can’t legally give permission. If a prison guard has sex with a prisoner, the guard could go to jail for up to 15 years.” After a county worker filed a complaint, the investigation was done by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Then, in March, it was over. Templeton1.org says that the Tama County Jail is a small place that can only hold up to 30 people with short sentences for up to a year. People think that there are direct interactions between staff and inmates, and the prison has medical, laundry, and kitchen services.
Meaww reported in July that Alabama prisoner Casey White was charged with killing his girlfriend, prison guard Vicky White, after she helped him get out of jail and they ran away together for 11 days before being caught. Casey, who was 38 years old, and a prison guard planned a well-thought-out escape from a Florence, Alabama, jail on April 29. She said she was there for a mental health evaluation, which was not true. The two then switched cars and hid their identities as they went through three states. Vicky White, 56, was shot and killed by police in Evansville, Indiana, after the pair had been on the run for 11 days. At the time, the authorities said she killed herself by shooting herself in the head. After the chase on May 9, Casey was caught right away.