A deputy corrections officer was arrested on Sunday after an inmate reported allegations of sexual misconduct against the deputy to a hotline used to report prison rape, according to Capt. Tommy Carnline, Spokesman for the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office.
On Sunday, June 24, 2018, a PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) complaint was made through the PREA Hotline on a deputy for inappropriate sexual contact, stated Carnline. PREA coordinator immediately informed Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs and an initial complaint was taken. Investigators say the deputy was identified as Jonathan Kory Deville, 32, of Deville. The investigation was then turned over to detectives for further investigation and through their investigation, sufficient probable cause was established that supported the allegation, according to Capt. Carnline.
Deville was terminated upon arrest and booked into the Rapides Parish Jail on charges of sexual battery and malfeasance in office-sex, and later released on a $2,500 bond.
Deville had previously served with the Sheriff’s Office nine years prior to leaving in April of 2017 and then returning in August of 2017, added the spokesman.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act was put into place in 2012 to prevent, detect and respond to alleged sexual misconduct that occurs in confinement settings. Facilities must pass an audit every three years in order to be compliant with the law. RPSO was one of the first facilities to pass the audit in 2016.
"We put PREA in place for the safety of all of our inmates and the fact that this inmate made a report and the swift action taken is an example of how the system works," said Sheriff William Earl Hilton. "This is, again, very unfortunate because the majority of our employees work extremely hard to honor the trust the public has given us. We hold our employees to a very high standard and when they are accused of something like this, we act quickly and justly to rectify their actions."
