A Lakeview corrections officer has been arrested by New York State Police on rape and misconduct charges.
James Beam Jr., 41 of Silver Creek, had been a corrections officer at Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, located in Brocton. State prison officials said Beam, an 18-year veteran, resigned Tuesday.
He was charged with rape in the third degree and several counts of official misconduct following an investigation into an unlawful personal relationship with an inmate.
The Chautauqua County District Attorney's Office has issued an appearance ticket, ordering Beam to appear in Portland town court in January.
The Lakeview facility confines both male and female inmates who have been convicted of non-violent offenses in separate minimum-security units. It gets its name from the boot-camp like nature of the facility, that is meant to shock an offender into changing poor behavioral patterns.
The State Police investigation was assisted by the State Department of Corrections and the Community Supervision Office of Special Investigations.
