Durham detention officer fired after allegedly having sex with inmate
A guard at the Durham County Detention Center was fired Monday after allegedly having sex with an inmate at the jail last year, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said.
Jade Shanicia Lanique Robertson, 27, of Cary was arrested Monday on a charge of sex activity by a person having custody of a victim in a governmental institution, according to a news release. She is accused of having sex with an inmate on Aug. 1, 2023, the arrest warrant states.
A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said Monday she did not know if the offense was alleged to have happened once or multiple times. The inmate was not violently assaulted by Robertson, she said.
Robertson had worked for the Sheriff’s Office since Oct. 21, 2019, and was promoted to a sergeant in the detention center’s security division Sept. 5, 2022, personnel records state. She received 11 raises in her career with the Sheriff’s Office and made $62,581 at the time of her arrest.
Durham County Sheriff Clarence F. Birkhead condemned Robertson’s alleged behavior in a written statement.
“This behavior is not indicative of the values of the men and women of this agency, nor does it align with the training, policies, and procedures of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
According to a 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, any sexual contact or relations between prison or jail staff and inmates is illegal.
“It is important to note that consent is never a legal defense for corrections staff who engage in sexual acts with inmates,” the report states. “According to federal law, all sexual relations between staff and inmates are considered abuse.”
Robertson was released Monday on an unsecured bond of $25,000. She will appear in court at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
