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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Two more Washington County jail guards have resigned, bringing to four the number of corrections officers who have quit following allegations for sexual contact with female inmates.
Washington County Undersheriff Bart Bailey said Monday that the latest pair were being investigated for alleged misconduct while they were off-duty and away from the jail and sheriff's office.
Hurricane police Lt. Shayne Copeland said one of the men allegedly had a sexual relationship with a female inmate outside the jail but within the Hurricane city limits.
He said that in the other case, the guard purportedly did something inappropriate with a female, but there are no accusations of sexual misconduct in that case.
At the time the first two officers quit, Copeland said his office had been asked a couple of weeks earlier to investigate alleged sexual conduct involving a female inmate and corrections officer.
One guard was alleged to have committed wrongdoing at the jail in Hurricane, and another allegedly engaged in misconduct with an inmate in St. George. Copeland said Monday that same guard since has been accused of some wrongdoing in Hurricane.
St. George police Sgt. Craig Harding said Monday that detectives in his department had completed their part of the investigation and turned over their findings last week to the Beaver County attorney, who is to handle prosecution of any criminal charges.
"Through our investigation we got a corroboration of the statements we received from the Washington County sheriff's office internal investigation," Harding said. "We have corroborated the criminal aspects."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
