CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A former sheriff's employee in Tennessee has been charged with sexual contact with an inmate and official misconduct.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Thursday that 65-year-old Austin Benton Byrum was also charged in an indictment in Monroe County with introduction of contraband into a penal institution-telecommunication device.
Byrum was booked into the Monroe County Jail and released on $5,000 bond.
The TBI said an investigation in the case began in 2016, when Byrum was a captain in the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. He is no longer an employee of the office.
Byrum was not listed in online phone records. The TBI news release didn't indicate whether Byrum is represented by a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.