A Newton County detention officer has been arrested following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with an inmate, according to the sheriff’s office.
The office received a report April 26 about a possible relationship between a detention officer and an inmate, officials said. Akina Keturah Martin was arrested two months later, on June 21, following an investigation. According to Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records, Martin resigned April 11.
Martin was charged with two counts of aggravated sodomy, improper sexual contact by an employee, two counts of sexual battery, providing tobacco to an inmate without authorization, and violating the oath of a public officer, officials said.
“I want to make it clear that actions of this nature will not be, and have never been, tolerated within our office,” Newton Sheriff Ezell Brown said in a Facebook post addressing the incident.
Martin, whose only law enforcement experience in Georgia was with the Newton sheriff’s office, began working there in September. She had no prior disciplinary history, according to POST.
— Data specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this article.
