LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A former corrections officer at the Fayette County Detention Center has entered a guilty plea to third-degree sodomy.
Joshua Rogers, who served as a corrections officer at the detention center, was booked into the same jail in June 2022 after being charged with "deviate sexual intercourse with an inmate," according to court records.
Rogers is set to be sentenced in August. Prosecutors have recommended he be sentenced to four years in prison and be ordered to be a 20-year sex offender registrant, according to court records.
He was fired by the detention center in June 2022, said jail spokesman Major Matt LeMonds.
The criminal investigation was handled by the Lexington Police Department.
According to federal law, an inmate is unable to legally consent to any sexual contact with a jail guard or employee.
The woman who came forward with the allegation, Jamie Gray, reached out to LEX 18 to tell her story last summer. She said that Rogers forced her to perform oral sex on him while she was in a private cell on the men's side of the jail.
Gray, who is transgender, also said that she was denied hormone treatments for several days at the jail and that corrections officers and other inmates made inappropriate comments toward her and repeatedly misgendered her.
On Tuesday, LEX 18 spoke caught up with Gray. She said that she feels vindicated by Rogers' plea, but wants changes in the jail's policies for the housing of transgender inmates.
"I was literally thrown in with men, watched in the shower, it was ungodly and it was de-humanizing," Gray said. "I was harassed by male correction officers in there and they really just need to like do some sort of retraining on how they treat LGBT people, specifically trans."
Gray said she thinks if she'd been put in a cell by herself on the women's side of the jail, she would not have been assaulted.
"Everybody deserves to be treated with respect and they definitely need to do some sort of retraining in general on how they treat LGBT people, that way this won't be a recurring issue," Gray said. "And they'll hopefully be more careful in who they hire."
The jail houses inmates based on the gender listed on their government-issued identification, a jail spokesman said.
A person can update the gender on their drivers license in Kentucky if they are able to present a court order or a letter from the surgeon that completed the gender reassignment, according to the state's drivers licensing website.
Chief of Community Corrections Col. Scott Colvin released the following statement:
“I believe our policy and training are sound. Rogers made a deliberate choice to engage in criminal conduct. When discovered by Division staff, the investigation was turned over to Lexington Police and he was rightfully charged under the law. All inmates are worthy of our care while in custody. This assault investigation would have been conducted in the same manner with the same outcome regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
