Former corrections officer sentenced for inmate sex

Staff report

WARREN

George A. Palmer, 24, of Niles, has been sentenced to 30 days in the Ashtabula County Jail and two years’ probation for engaging in sexual conduct with a female inmate while working as a corrections officer in the Trumbull County Jail.

Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere fired Palmer on Sept. 8, 2009, three days after the sexual conduct took place.

Palmer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses — obstructing official business and public indecency — in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court last month.

Palmer was indicted on a felony sexual-battery charge after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation investigated allegations at the request of Altiere.

The sex is alleged to have taken place in the inmate’s cell Sept. 5, 2009. The jail has surveillance cameras but none inside inmates’ cells, officials said.

Surveillance videos indicated that Palmer spent seven minutes in the inmate’s cell on one occasion that day, 12 minutes on another occasion and 59 minutes that night altogether.

Normally, a corrections officer spends no more than 30 seconds in an inmate’s cell while traveling through a cell range, officials said.

Palmer made no statement before sentencing by Judge W. Wyatt McKay.