By David Hurst
The Tribune-Democrat
SOMERSET — A chief county corrections officer at Somerset County Jail has been charged with indecent assault, accused of groping two of his female guards and making “lewd” sexual advances.
Ronald E. Lensbouer, 44, of Friedens, is accused of having inappropriate contact with two female officers over an 18-month period, forcibly sticking his hand down the back of their pants – and on another occasion, fondling the women, police said.
The acts occurred inside the jail while Lensbouer was working as their supervising officer, Detective Angelo J. Cancelliere wrote in a criminal complaint.
Police said the Friedens man made inappropriate comments to both guards from late 2010 through 2012, and escalated to separate groping incidents where the women had to “fight” with Lensbouer to get him to stop.
The police investigation started in March after County Commissioner Joe Betta aired concerns about several allegations of misconduct at the jail, including employee misconduct and inmate abuse.
The Somerset County Prison Board contacted Somerset police about the matter, Somerset Chief Randy Cox said.
Numerous allegations of harassment by an employee were investigated, but several – potential summary or misdemeanor offenses – could not carry charges because of the statute of limitations, he said.
Other allegations, including claims of inmate abuse, were determined to be “baseless” or unfounded, Cox said.
In one case, an inmate claimed she was prevented by the jail from being able to attend a child custody hearing, he noted. Investigators learned she did not attend the hearing because the county had a court order to transfer her the same day to a state corrections facility.
Cox said the investigation into jail issues has wrapped up.
“The charges filed fit what occurred,” he said, referring to the indecent assault and harassment counts against Lensbouer.
Betta said Lensbouer was suspended without pay at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Betta said the charges vindicate both women, who he praised for having the strength to step forward about the incidents.
“These employees were terrified,” he said.
Still, Betta said he’s frustrated that he had to push for months to get an investigation underway on the allegations, and that the county commissioners didn’t hear about the accusations from prison administrators first.
“This should have been brought to our attention last year,” he said.
Betta said he hopes he can convince fellow commissioners to have an internal review into prison operations to ensure similar acts aren’t repeated in the future.
“It’s our job to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen – and shame on us, we haven’t done that,” he said.