By Charlie Frago
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A sergeant at the Department of Correction’s training academy has been demoted and transferred for impeding an investigation, officials say.
Thursday’s action came nearly two months after Capt. Todd Brown was dismissed from the department after an investigation concluded he exhibited conduct unbecoming for an employee, unsatisfactory work performance, refusal to carry out instructions, falsification of information and unauthorized release of information.
Brown could not be reached for comment Friday.
The sergeant, identified by others as Autumn Lem, lied to investigators and withheld information when questioned about Brown’s conduct, said Dina Tyler, Department of Correction spokesman, on Friday.
Lem was demoted to a correctional officer and transferred from the academy, which is on the Tucker Unit’s property, to the Jefferson County Correctional Facility in Pine Bluff.
“She came clean and admitted what she had done. Of course, she could have been terminated for that,” Tyler said.
Tyler said she could not identify the sergeant because she has state appeal rights. But sources in the department — who wished to remain anonymous because they could be fired for talking to the press — named her as Autumn Lem.
Lem could not be reached for comment Friday.
Lem, the sources said, had done nothing more than tell the truth that Brown had not sexually harassed a female cadet.
They say that Brown and Lem have been punished for raising questions about missing funds from the academy’s employee association account.
Tyler said she had no knowledge of any improprieties involving employee association money.
Prison employee associations are active at most state prisons. Money deducted from employees’ paychecks and collected from other sources, such as vending machines, is used to sponsor barbecues and other activities as well as pay for haircuts, inmate car washes and other perks.
The academy trains several hundred new recruits to be correctional officers each year. After Brown’s Oct. 4 termination, Jim Gumm, a cadet who had not yet graduated, was plucked from the ranks to a leadership position at the academy. A new director hasn’t been chosen, Tyler said Friday.
Copyright 2007 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette