EVERETT — A former corrections officer is headed to jail for her relationship with an inmate at the Washington State Reformatory.
A judge on Thursday sentenced Danette Skelton to six months in jail for having consensual sex with a prisoner while she was on duty in 2009. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Cowsert agreed to let Skelton serve her time on work release so she can keep her new job at The Boeing Co.
Cowsert said that Skelton has been punished in other ways, including first losing her job with the prison and then, as a result, her home. There’s also the public embarrassment, the judge said.
“If I was in your shoes, I would be absolutely mortified,” Cowsert said.
Skelton, 40, earlier this year pleaded guilty to custodial sexual misconduct. Under the law, it is a felony for a corrections officer to have sex with inmates.
Prosecutors alleged that Skelton began bringing home-cooked meals to the inmate in 2009. The pair wrote notes to each other and Skelton provided a cellphone to the man, court papers said. The prisoner told investigators that he and Skelton had sex about a dozen times while she was on duty in the prison’s minimum security unit.
The inmate, 30, is serving time for robbery convictions out of King County. His earliest release date is March 2012.
Skelton began working at the prison in August 2002. She resigned following a Department of Corrections investigation in December 2009.
“I’m ashamed of my choices and actions,” Skelton said.
The former corrections officer will be required to register as a sex offender. She also was ordered to stay away from the reformatory and the inmate.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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