Officials stated that James Stewart Justice, a former corrections officer with the Maury County, Tennessee, Jail, was sentenced to 15 months on Friday.
A federal jury previously convicted Justice of falsifying a record in a federal civil rights investigation for a report he wrote in response to allegations that he had sexually abused an inmate in his custody.
“This sentence is the result of relentless efforts by the FBI to bring to justice corrections personnel who abuse their position of trust,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Memphis Field Office. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners to ensure the physical safety and civil rights of all individuals and ensure that any public servant who abuses their authority is held accountable.”
According to court documents, the defendant, formerly known as James Stewart Thomas, wrote an official report for the Maury County Jail in response to allegations that he had sexually abused an inmate he had guarded in a hospital room. In contrast, the inmate recovered from major surgery.
In his report, Justice falsely claimed that he had reported to two Maury County Jail supervisors that an inmate had made sexual advances toward him while the inmate was in his custody at the hospital.
He falsely claimed that those two Maury County Jail supervisors both advised him not to write a report about the inmate’s alleged sexual advances and omitted a claim he later made to criminal investigators that he had a sexual relationship with the inmate after the inmate’s release from custody.
The FBI Memphis Field Office and Nashville Resident Agency investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Kyle Boynton of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda J. Klopf for the Middle District of Tennessee prosecuted the case.