DOC worker gets prison sentence after having sex with inmate
Former Mike Durfee State Prison guard pled guilty to charge stemming from six month-long relationship with prisoner
Another former employee of the state of South Dakota is headed to prison. But this time, the offender’s crimes were not financial in nature.
The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday that a former state prison employee has been sentenced to 90 days in prison after being caught having sex with an inmate at the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield.
Previously pleading guilty to one count of a prohibited sexual act between a prison employee and prisoner, Cassandra Jelsma was sentenced this week in Bon Homme County Circuit Court.
The 36-year-old also received two additional years of suspended prison time.
“This behavior is unacceptable and reflects poorly on the vast majority of good employees who work in our correctional facilities,” Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a news release announcing the sentence.
According to the attorney general, investigators determined the illegal sexual conduct took place between Nov. 1, 2022, and June 22, 2023. Jelsma was employed with the Department of Corrections at the time.
South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation and the South Dakota Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General investigated the case. The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office prosecuted it.
That's a really light sentence.