There seems to be a rash of correctional officers who decide to have relationships with inmates under their custody. This time the facility is the Dekalb County Jail in metro Atlanta. Sheriff’s deputies arrested two women identified as Shanik Bishop, 26, and Nardia P.K. Reynolds, 30, who were both arrested at their separate homes for their involvement with two detention center inmates.
Bishop was accused of lighting up one inmate’s day by giving him marijuana while in custody. She had been an employee at the jail for six months and has been fired for her actions. Reynolds is accused of having a sexual relationship with an inmate and was fired after working at the jail for two years. DeKalb County Sheriff Jeffrey Mann stated the women are being treated like any lawbreaker who has taken advantage of their position. He is quoted as saying, “We have no tolerance for anyone who violates the law.”
On Thursday, Bishop was granted two $5K bonds for violating her oath as a public officer. Reynolds was granted a $7,500 bond and a $2,500 bond for felony violation of oath by a public officer and sexual assault against a person in custody.
Georgia has seen its share of correctional officers involved in coercing inmates to have sex. Last year, Edgar Daniel Johnson, 48, a high ranking official at Georgia’s Emanuel Women’s Facility in Swainsboro, was accused of groping and fondling inmates as well as forcing inmates to have sex. At least a dozen women were interviewed and they described Johnson’s predatory behavior in detail. Johnson was arrested in May 2015 and charged with 11 counts of sexual assault on a person in custody.
Across the country, there have been multiple reports of guards having sex with inmates from a Bloods gang member who got 4 prison female guards pregnant as well as a rash of assaults at Rikers Island Prison in New York that led to a federal investigation.
