Several sources within Guilford County Government informed the Rhino Times that two female detention officers at Guilford County’s jail in High Point are under investigation for engaging in sex with male inmates in the jail.
Those incidents were alleged to have occurred multiple times in areas of the jail where security cameras are not focused.
On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the Rhino Times sent an email to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department requesting any available information about the alleged sexual activity between the two guards at the jail in High Point. On Friday, Sept. 27, the Sheriff’s Department responded.
The email, from Guilford County Sheriff’s Attorney James Secor, reads: “The Sheriff’s Office is aware those allegations have been made and is investigating the validity (if any) of those claims. Due, however, to the constraints of the Personnel Privacy Act in N.C. Gen. Stat. §153A-98, we are unable to provide any further information. Thank you for your inquiry.”
Of the names of the two guards who were allegedly involved, county employment records – which are public record – show that one of the guards resigned earlier this month and the other remains a county employee.
Guilford County is only required by law to provide very minimal information about county employees – such as the employee’s hire date, termination date, job title and salary. Many issues, such as why an employee left county government – and whether that employee was fired, left willingly or forced to resign, is not public record since personnel records are not public records and there’s no legal requirement for government to provide that information to the public.
One source very familiar with the operations of the county’s jail in High Point said that one allegation in this case – an allegation that the Rhino Times has not been able to confirm – is that the guards were receiving money from inmates in exchange for sexual favors. According to that unconfirmed assertion, the money was provided by to officers outside of jail by friends of the inmates for sexual favors dispensed inside the jail.
The Guilford County jail in Greensboro, which is only about seven years old, is more modern than the jail in High Point, and it has better lines of sight and better security camera coverage than the High Point jail, which would make this type of activity somewhat harder to engage in at the Greensboro jail. In addition to the fact that the jail in High Point is much older and has more “blind spots,” in recent years, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department has lowered the population in that jail choosing instead to house more inmates in the more modern facility in Greensboro. There have even been talks among county commissioners in recent years that the usage of that jail is so minimal the county might be wise to shut it down entirely and move all inmates to the large jail in Greensboro.
