A former civilian cook at the Attica Correctional Facility has been sentenced to one year of interim probation for having sexual contact with an inmate assigned to her.
The Wyoming County District Attorney's Office says Joann Thompson, 53 at the time of her arrest, was working with the inmate in the prison kitchen when the two had the "unlawful personal relationship." She was arrested by New York State Police in January and charged with official misconduct and sex abuse 2nd degree.
“Whenever anyone within the prison system has sexual contact with an inmate it cannot be tolerated," said Assistant DA Gregory Kilburn. "In this case it went one step further because it was exploitative in nature. These kinds of crimes also present a danger to the safety and security of the facility.”
As part of her guilty plea for the misdemeanor, Thompson agreed that she would not seek future employment with the state Department of Corrections.
