Maury Co. corrections officer convicted of covering up reported rape of female inmate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Maury County correctional officer has been convicted of obstruction of justice after being accused of raping a female inmate and covering it up by falsifying reports.

According to U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis, James Stewart Thomas, 32, a corrections officer with the Maury County Sheriff’s Office, was indicted in May 2022 and charged with falsifying records relating to nonconsensual sexual contact that he had with a female inmate in his custody.

Thomas faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 18.

“Testimony and evidence produced at trial established that Thomas wrote an official report in which he falsely claimed that he had reported to two Maury County Jail supervisors that an inmate had made sexual advances toward him while the inmate was in his custody at a hospital,” Leventis said in a statement.

“The report also falsely claimed that those two Maury County Jail supervisors both advised him not to write a report about the alleged sexual advances by the inmate, and the report omitted that he had a sexual relationship with the inmate after her release from the custody of the Maury County Jail.”

A WSMV4 investigation revealed that Thomas was charged with raping a female inmate.

After reporting exposed the rape allegation in 2018, Thomas was indicted years later for falsifying sheriff’s department documents related to his rape case.

WSMV4 recently uncovered that despite the rape allegation and indictment, he remains on the job as a correctional officer for the Maury County Sheriff.

Copyright 2023 WSMV. All rights reserved.