Two Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Jailers were arrested on sexual assault charges Thursday. The charges stemmed from incidents which involved inappropriate sexual contact between the jailers and multiple female inmates at the Paulding County Jail.
According to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, on May 12, a female inmate came forward to the jail staff with allegations that two male jailers had initiated inappropriate sexual contact with her. The two accused jailers were off duty on May 12 and 13. When the jailers came back to work on May 14, staff made sure they had no further contact with any other inmates. Once they got to work, they were immediately placed on routine paid administrative leave by the department’s Office of Professional Standards Division.
Since the allegations involved potential criminal activity with sworn jailers, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to conduct the criminal investigation into the incident. The sheriff’s department also launched an internal investigation into any potential policy violations as well.
During the course of the investigation on May 20, two more female inmates came forward with similar sexual misconduct allegations against the same two jailers.
As a result of the GBI investigation, combined with video evidence that was obtained at the Jail, the two jailers were immediately terminated by detectives with the professional standards division and subsequently arrested by GBI agents. Listed below are the names of the former jailers and the charges they are facing:
LaDarius Dominique Jones (B/M, 30 YOA)
-3 Counts Sexual Assault (F)
-1 Count Violation of Oath of Office (F)
Lucas Mays (B/M, 22 YOA)
-3 Counts Sexual Assault (F)
-1 Count Violation of Oath of Office (F)
“It disgusts me that two of our jailers would betray the trust that our inmates and the public have in us. We are sworn to uphold the law, and I will not stand for anyone, even if they are one of our deputies or jailers, to violate the law and the trust of the community,” Sheriff Gary Gulledge said.
Due to the fact that this case involves victims of sexual assault, none of the victim’s information will be released. This is still an open and active investigation with more charges possible in the near future.
If anyone has any information regarding these jailers or any other employee of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office regarding misconduct of any kind, contact the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office OPS Division at (770) 443-3010, the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app, or by downloading the Paulding Sheriff mobile app.
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