KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A settlement was reached in a federal lawsuit claiming two former female inmates were forced to perform "sex shows" for a corrections officer at the Grainger County Jail, according to court records.
The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in April 2022 against multiple Grainger County Jail employees.
The lawsuit claimed that a corrections officer sexually abused, coerced and intimated multiple female inmates by forcing them to strip naked and either engage in forced-sex acts or witness them.
The "sex shows" occurred in the female inmate pod and the officer routinely orchestrated, announced and directed the "sex show" via the intercom system in the jail, the lawsuit states.
The two plaintiffs complained to other jail employees about the sexual abuse, however, their complaints were ignored, according to the lawsuit.
The sexual abuse happened at least since February 2021, and likely earlier, and ended on April 18, 2021. The Grainger County Jail confirmed that the corrections officer was fired on April 24, 2021.
The corrections officer denied ever doing anything like what is described in the lawsuit. He told 10News in April that he believed the two plaintiffs were "making things up" about him because he refused to bring them cigarettes and suboxone.
According to court documents, the settlement was reached on October 26, 2022. The documents did not disclose the amount of the settlement.