By Wendy Holdren
Register-Herald Reporter
BECKLEY —
A correctional officer was sentenced Friday in Raleigh County Circuit Court for having sex with a female inmate.
Thomas Dewight Lafferty, 27, pleaded guilty to engaging in sex with a 28-year-old female inmate at Southern Regional Jail.
Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Keller said by law, inmates cannot give consent. Even if an officer and an inmate have a relationship, it is against the law for the two to engage in sexual acts.
Circuit Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick sentenced Lafferty to serve one to five years. Following his sentence, he will be placed on 10 years’ intensive sex offender parole supervision and must register as a sex offender.
— E-mail: wholdren@register-herald.com
