Roswell Police said Tuesday they have no plans to end their practice of sending long-term inmates to a south Georgia detention center after a guard there was charged with sexually assaulting a female inmate.
Police told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik the inmate was initially held at the Roswell city jail for failure to appear in court on a trespassing charge.
After 72-hours, the city sends inmates who haven’t made bond 240 miles south to the city of Pelham, Ga.
“We contract for them to handle the housing, medical everything for our inmates,” Roswell police spokesman Zachary Frommer told Petchenik, adding that Johns Creek and Sandy Springs have similar arrangements.
Frommer said the female inmate made the allegation against guard Dennis Logan after arriving back to Roswell.
The GBI and Pelham police conducted an investigation and charged Logan with sexual assault and violation of oath of office.
“It’s obviously concerning when anything like this happens, especially this incident,” Frommer said.
Frommer told Petchenik that Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant personally drove to Pelham last week to meet with that city’s police chief to discuss what happened.
“Chief Grant is confident this is an isolated incident that the Pelham PD and GBI handled the investigation swiftly and appropriately,” said Frommer.
Richard Taylor, of A-OK bonding in Roswell, told Petchenik what happened to the woman is a “tragedy.” He said he hears negative feedback about the Pelham jail from his clients.
“Probably one of the more poorly run jails,” he said. “We usually try to get them out before they get there.”
Last year, Roswell officials told Petchenik they paid the city of Pelham $86,317.95 to house inmates.
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