A corrections officer at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta is accused of having a sexual relationship with an inmate earlier this year.

Nicholas Fellows, who was employed as a Kennebec County corrections officer at the time of the alleged incident, was indicted in late September on charges of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact, both of which are felonies.

Under state law, it’s a crime for any sexual contact between a corrections officer with supervisory authority over an incarcerated person. An indictment is not a determination of guilt but indicates enough evidence exists for a case to move forward to trial.

Fellows’ coworkers reportedly discovered the inmate relationship in late July and that a brief internal investigation revealed the relationship was likely sexual.

In an interview, an inmate told Detective John Bourque that they had seen Fellows pass notes with the inmate he’s charged with having a relationship with, some of which described sexual acts. The inmate said they’d seen Fellows’ relationship with the other inmate progress.

The inmate who allegedly had a relationship with Fellows confirmed the sexual acts detailed in the notes occurred. In an interview with Bourque, she described her sexual contact with Fellows and said Fellows had orchestrated a situation in which the two could be unsupervised.

The Morning Sentinel’s policy is not to name victims of alleged sexual assault without their explicit consent. 

In an affidavit in support of probable cause, Bourque wrote that Fellows was arrested Aug. 10 for gross sexual assault.

Fellows was held at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, where he was released Aug. 21 on $10,000 bail. The conditions of his bail state that Fellows can have no indirect or direct contact with the inmate or staff of Kennebec County jail or the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

On Tuesday, Chris Read, chief deputy at the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed Fellows was fired from his position as a corrections officer at the time of his arrest.

Fellows is set to appear at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta for his arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 27, following a dispositional conference. A dispositional conference is a nontestimonial hearing where the involved parties discuss the merits of the evidence, defense and motions with a judge.

HOW TO GET HELP

IF YOU or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, you can call the statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 1-800-871-7741 for free and confidential help 24 hours a day.

TO LEARN more about sexual violence prevention and response in Maine, visit the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault website at mecasa.org.

FOR MORE information about mental health services in Maine, visit the website for the state’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.