Johnson
A former Johnson County corrections officer accused of having a sexual relationship with two inmates has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Zachariah B. Johnson, 28 of North Vernon, pled guilty on April 14 to four counts of sexual misconduct and two counts of official misconduct, all felonies. A misdemeanor charge of trafficking with an inmate was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, said Joe Villanueva, prosecutor.
Johnson was sentenced on Monday to six years in prison with two years of the sentence to be executed and four years of it suspended. He will also serve two years on probation. The sentences were split into two groups of charges, with the first group to be served consecutively with the second. He also received a jail credit of seven days for time served, according to online court records.
Johnson was initially charged in December 2021 with three counts of sexual misconduct, a Level 5 felony, official misconduct, a Level 6 felony, and trafficking with an inmate, a misdemeanor, after a female inmate came forward with allegations. Additional charges of sexual misconduct and official misconduct were filed in January after a second inmate came forward about her relationship with Johnson.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office fired Johnson in December. He had been with the agency for two years.
The first inmate had reported through her lawyer that she and Johnson had a sexual relationship, ultimately leading to his arrest in early December. She said they had flirted, passed notes back and forth and had talked in an interview room at the jail. He also showed her a photo of his penis on his cell phone, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 6 in Johnson County Superior Court 2.
During the first week of October, at about 2 a.m., Johnson took the inmate from her cell to the same interview room. He began kissing her and they had sex, according to court documents.
The next day, the inmate passed Johnson a note that said she was concerned she would get pregnant. She said she was not on birth control and Johnson did not use any type of protection. She asked Johnson to bring her a Plan B pill so she wouldn’t get pregnant, and he did, court documents show.
Johnson took her to the interview room to have sex on at least two other occasions between October and November, according to court documents.
During initial interviews, Johnson admitted to taking the inmate to the interview room, and that they had a sexual relationship. He also confirmed that he did get the Plan B pill and passed it to the inmate using a jail medication cup, according to court documents.
Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess learned about the allegations on Dec. 2 and launched a criminal and internal investigation. He asked deputies with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department to handle the investigation to ensure transparency.
Morgan County detectives received a call from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 6 requesting Morgan County do follow-up interviews concerning the previous investigation, according to a probable cause affidavit filed on Jan. 4.
Johnson County deputies told their Morgan County counterparts that they had interviewed a female inmate at the county jail on Dec. 6, who said she had a sexual relationship with Johnson. The relationship began in early November. She said Johnson asked her what she would be willing to do to get out of an upcoming disciplinary hearing, according to court documents.
After a brief conversation, Johnson asked her to show him her breasts, and he later showed her a photo of his penis on his cell phone. For the next few weeks, the inmate said she and Johnson began flirting and having explicit conversations through the jail’s intercom system, court documents show.
On Thanksgiving Day, Johnson asked the inmate if she wanted to have sex with him, and she said yes. Later that day, Johnson went to the inmate’s cell and had sex with her. The inmate told investigators they had not spoken since, according to court documents.
Morgan County detectives interviewed Johnson at the Bartholomew County jail, where he was being held. During the interview on Dec. 8, Johnson told investigators the inmate was telling the truth. Johnson also told investigators he had previously had inappropriate interactions with other female inmates at the Johnson County jail. Johnson County detectives interviewed the other inmates, and they denied it, court documents show.
