Former Corrections Officer Charged With Sexual Misconduct With An Inmate

Date Added: January 19, 2017 6:40 pm

Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

A former Volusia County correctional officer is facing a criminal charge after she was accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a female inmate. Megan Lynch resigned her position at the Volusia County Correctional Facility in June 2016 after the allegations surfaced. Thursday night, Volusia County Sheriff’s detectives arrested the 27-year-old Lynch after obtaining a warrant charging her with sexual misconduct by a correctional officer. The charge is a 3rd-degree felony.

Both Lynch and the 26-year-old inmate have admitted the relationship, with the inmate saying it was consensual and the result of a mutual attraction. However, sexual contact of any kind between a detention facility employee and an inmate is considered a criminal offense under Florida law.

The investigation revealed that other inmates were used as conduits to pass notes between Lynch and the inmate and at least one acted as a look-out while the two were behind closed doors in various locations inside the jail, such as a mop closet or case management office. Lynch had arranged to have the inmate assigned to her as a trustee, which meant the inmate was tasked with jobs such as cleaning offices in the facility. But once a physical relationship developed, the inmate said it continued virtually every day that Lynch worked until administrators found out and launched an internal investigation. On one occasion, Lynch was spotted watching the inmate taking a shower in what was described as an act of voyeurism. On another occasion, Lynch kissed the inmate through a lock-down door. Lynch also would come in on days off to see the inmate. Notes were found during a routine search of the inmate’s cell in May 2016, but the inmate covered for Lynch at the time and told the staff that the notes were from another inmate. Shortly afterwards, though, county corrections officials launched an internal investigation when another inmate disclosed the relationship.

In October, the Sheriff’s Office was brought in to conduct a criminal investigation which included review of recordings of more than 450 phone calls that the inmate made to Lynch. In one of them, Lynch said: “I understand that somewhere we crossed the line.”

Lynch was arrested at a residence in Port Orange shortly before 6:30 p.m. Arrangements have been made to book her into the Flagler County Detention Facility, where she’ll be held on $10,000 bond.