By Betty Adams
The Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA, Maine — A former officer at the Kennebec County jail pleaded guilty Tuesday to having illegal sexual contact with an inmate.
Jeffrey Allan Whittaker, 23, of Augusta was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with all but 21 days suspended and one year of probation. He is to begin serving jail time Jan. 24.
He was accused of having unlawful sexual contact with one or two women in custody in late June 2010, when he had supervisory or disciplinary authority over them.
One of the women named as a victim in the complaint said the incident occurred while she was working as a trusty in the jail laundry.
The woman said she notified another officer about the incident, and jail authorities promptly began an investigation.
''The jail did act properly on it as soon as they found out,’' she said on Thursday.
Shortly after that, Whittaker lost his job as a corrections officer.
Kennebec County Administrator Robert Devlin said Whittaker was a probationary employee. He was hired on March 8, 2010, and terminated June 28, 2010, Devlin said.
Devlin said an internal investigation involving Whittaker was under way when he left.
The incident reportedly involved at least one encounter between Whittaker and one or two women inside the facility on or about June 22, 2010.
While few details are available in the docket record at Augusta District Court, one item indicates that the evidence in the case included a DVD and digital audio recording. The woman who made the complaint said the encounter was captured on video and that an audio recording was made of some of it.
She said she had been subpoenaed several times in connection with the case and was prepared to testify had it gone to trial.
Whittaker’s attorney, J. Mitchell Flick, was out of the office Thursday and unavailable for comment.
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