Butler County Jail intern accused of smuggling drugs, sexual relations with inmate
For two years, a Greater Cincinnati school has offered its students internships at a local jail, paving the way for a possible career as correctional officers.
The future of the program is now uncertain, after one student was charged with smuggling drugs into the jail and admitted to having a sexual relationship with an inmate. One of the inmates she was reportedly involved with is a convicted murderer.
The teenager, who was enrolled in the Butler Tech Criminal Justice Program, was charged March 1 with two felonies and one misdemeanor for bringing marijuana, ecstasy and a cell phone into Butler County Jail while working there as an intern, court records show. She was also charged with a misdemeanor for obstructing official business.
The student was 17 years old when she was charged and turned 18 this month. The Enquirer is not naming her because she is being tried in juvenile court.
What happened at the Butler County Jail?
According to an incident report from the sheriff's office, the student confessed to sheriff's deputies to bringing the drugs and cell phone into the jail and to having a relationship that violated jail policies with two inmates, Willie Attaway, 32, and Larkin McGowan, 33.
The student also told deputies she had two sexual encounters with one of the inmates, Butler County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said.
At a hearing Thursday, Judge Daniel Phillips ruled that her confession can be used in court. The case is now set for trial, and her next scheduled hearing is July 15.
Teenager interned at jail through Butler Tech
Butler Tech offers adult education and career-specific programs for juniors and seniors in high school, with campuses in Monroe and Liberty Township.
The Butler Tech Criminal Justice Program works with the sheriff's offices in Butler and Warren counties and has worked with Butler County for two years, AJ Huff, the school's public relations coordinator, said in an email. Not all students work in local jails. Work opportunities depend on the student's interests, grades and attendance.
Butler Tech's Huff would not comment on the student or situation, citing Ohio law and the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Jail interns learn from staff and oversee prisoner intake, pat downs and more, Dwyer said. The goal of the program is to prepare students for corrections employment, should they want to apply for a job at the jail when they're 18.
Before starting, interns sign documents agreeing to certain rules, such as keeping nonpublic information about inmates confidential, and not having relationships or sex with inmates. Interns wear a uniform similar to the jail's correctional officers, Dwyer said.
Butler County Jail Association Policy by vmoorwood on Scribd
Intern admitted to sexual encounter with inmate
The student confessed to deputies that she had two brief sexual encounters with an inmate.
Dwyer said she was not left alone in the jail's two-story housing pods; a guard was in the building. However, the student said in her confession that she went inside the inmate's cell while the guard was walking away from the cell, Dwyer said. The chief deputy also said it was his understanding that another inmate was keeping watch for the guard during the encounter. The teenager said this situation happened twice.
Dwyer said an unnamed "informant" told deputies a "CO (correctional officer) had been compromised." They learned Attaway and McGowan were involved and, because of estimated time frames, believed the teenager was the "compromised" staffer.
The deputies searched her phone and found she had been having conversations with the inmates, which was against protocol. They interviewed her that same day and she confessed, court records show.
Butler Tech said the two internships at the jail were suspended in March.
Attaway and McGowan were both written up for a jail rule violation. Attaway, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to murdering a Madeira convenience store owner in a spree of store robberies, is still in custody at Butler County Jail on a hold for U.S. Marshals in Cincinnati. McGowan was at the jail on a hold for U.S. Marshals in Columbus but was released March 4.
Copies of letters from Attaway and McGowan to the intern were obtained by "Louder with Crowder," a self-described conservative online show. One letter offered her $1,500 for a cellphone, and in others, the inmates sexually propositioned the student. Dwyer said the sheriff's office has the letters in their possession.
Jail employees who have sexual relationships with an inmate can be charged with sexual battery, as is described in the Association Policy that interns and other staff members sign. The student was not charged with sexual battery since she was an intern and not an employee, Dwyer said.
Lawyer tried to get student's confession suppressed
The student's lawyer tried to get her confession thrown out. In a motion to suppress her statement, attorney D. Joseph Auciello, Jr. argued the teen was coerced into confessing to bringing contraband into the jail after being interviewed for four and a half hours without a parent or guardian present.
The Enquirer emailed and called Auciello but has not heard back. The judge ruled Thursday the teen's confession could be used in court.
Who supervises interns at the jail?
Huff did not provide an answer about whether students are constantly supervised while at the jail. She said the sheriff's office could better provide details about the jail's supervision structure.
Dwyer said an officer is always in the same general area as the interns because there is always an officer in the jail's housing and booking areas. However, in other areas, interns could come into contact with inmates who are allowed to move around openly, such as trustees.
There is no Butler Tech instructor or guard specifically tasked with constantly supervising the interns.
"You cannot completely shield correctional officers or other civilian staff to what occurs in a jail, which could be violence and other things," Dwyer said.
Interns are taught during orientation to report inmates who ask them to break rules or speak to them in a way that is not allowed, Dwyer said.
Such reports aren't uncommon. Attaway was written up for "saying vulgar words" to an officer March 12, less than two weeks after the student was charged, disciplinary logs show.
Students are told the realities of working with inmates at the jail. Communication with their parents is handled through the school. Before an internship can start, students, parents, employers and teachers sign Butler Tech's Work Based Learning Agreement, which outlines each person's responsibilities.
According to the agreement, the employer is responsible for:
Directing the student to complete job tasks.
Routinely evaluating the student's performance.
Providing regular feedback.
Observing and upholding all state and federal employment and compensation laws.
The instructor is supposed to:
Routinely observe and evaluate the student’s on-the-job performance.
Provide regular guidance and feedback to the student regarding challenges and opportunities.
Determine the student's final grade.
Assist the student in identifying and coordinating supplemental educational activities.
Butler Tech Work Based Learning Agreement by vmoorwood on Scribd
Sheriff's office denies cover-up
In a "Louder with Crowder" episode shared on social media Wednesday, host Steven Crowder accused the Butler County Sheriff's Office of covering up the student's relationship with inmates in order not to jeopardize a multi-million-dollar contract the sheriff's office has with U.S. Marshals. Dwyer called the allegation "just false."
"There was no intent to cover anything up," he said. "She was publicly charged in court."
Butler Tech program's future is unclear
Dwyer said this was the only issue he'd seen in the program's two years with Butler County.
Huff did not say whether the internship would be discontinued, only that fall internships have not yet been established.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio jail intern accused of smuggling drugs, sex with inmate
