A former corrections officer at the Cumberland County Jail is accused of having sexual contact with a person incarcerated in the community corrections center at the jail late in 2019.

Jonathan Williams, 30, turned himself in to Cumberland County Sheriff’s investigators Thursday. He was released on $1,000 bail. Williams is expected to be arraigned in Kennebec County Superior Court on June 9 on charges of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact, both felonies; a third charge, of unlawful sexual touching, is a misdemeanor, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said.

Under state statute, any sexual contact between a corrections officer or other staff member with supervisory authority over an incarcerated person is a crime.

Williams worked as a corrections officer for nearly five years. He had been on paid administrative leave between Nov. 24, 2020, and March 15, 2021, when he resigned one day before he was expected to be fired an employee predetermination hearing, Joyce said.

Williams now lives in Danvers, Massachusetts, but formerly resided in Biddeford, the sheriff’s office said. Williams did not respond to a message seeking an interview left at a phone number listed for him.

The investigation began in November 2020 after the sheriff’s office received information about the alleged sexual contact from a former inmate. The sheriff’s office did not identify the victim or who came forward, and it was unclear whether they were the same person.

To avoid any potential conflict of interest, Williams will be prosecuted by the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office, and was indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury this month, Joyce said.

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