Tuesday, July 8, 2003

Talbert House guard guilty



By Sharon Turco
The Cincinnati Enquirer

One of two Hamilton County corrections officers accused of having a party with inmates in a county lockup last August will spend the next two years in prison, according to a plea agreement on Monday.

Lloyd Fawley, 28, of New Richmond resigned from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office shortly before pleading guilty to two charges of sexual battery, illegal conveyance of drugs into a corrections facility, dereliction of duty and sexual imposition.

In exchange for his guilty plea, additional charges of unlawful restraint, assault and dereliction of duty were dropped.

He had been facing a sentence for more than 10 years in prison.

Allegations stem from late 2001 and early 2002, when Fawley - a corrections officer, but not a certified peace officer - worked at the Talbert House, a Reading Road facility in Pendleton that offers mental health services, community corrections and substance abuse services.

Authorities say Fawley brought an alcoholic beverage into the Talbert House detention facility, failed to perform his assigned duties and had sexual contact with an inmate. He also, according the indictment, helped tie up a female corrections officer, stun her with a stun gun and then fondle her.

Hamilton County Corrections Officer Jerry Lunsford, 34, of Cincinnati is accused of helping him commit some of the crimes.

Lunsford has been indicted on charges of illegal conveyance of drugs into a corrections facility, two charges of dereliction of duty, complicity, obstructing officials business, unlawful restraint and assault.

His case was continued Monday until October.

Fawley, who began work for Sheriff Simon Leis in April 1998, has been on a leave of absence from the sheriff's office without pay since Aug. 28.

Fawley will be sentenced Aug. 8. He remains free on bail until that time. Fawley also was designated a habitual sexual offender. For the next 20 years, he will have to register with the sheriff in the county where he is living.

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E-mail sturco@enquirer.com