Former Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Having Illegal Sexual Contact with an Inmate and is Sentenced to 60 Months of Probation

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – AMANDA HOCK, 35, of Kingsland, Georgia, pled guilty today to having illegal sexual contact with an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma ("FCI-El Reno"), announced Mark A. Yancey, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. United States District Judge Stephen P. Friot also sentenced Hock to five years of probation.

Hock was a Correctional Officer at FCI-El Reno until her resignation in December 2015. She was charged on September 13, 2016, with knowingly engaging in sexual contact with B.C., an inmate at FCI-El Reno, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(4). At the hearing before Judge Friot today, Hock admitted to engaging in the sexual contact with the inmate on December 23, 2015. Following her guilty plea, Judge Friot sentenced Hock to 60 months’ probation, with 180 days of that sentence to be served on home detention. She was also ordered to complete 104 hours of community service within her first year of probation.

Federal law criminalizes all sexual relations and sexual contact between prison staff and inmates. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2243, and 2244. An incarcerated individual has the right to not be pressured by anyone to engage in sexual acts and does not have to tolerate sexually abusive behavior or pressure to engage in unwanted sexual behavior from another inmate or staff member. In addition to the harm it causes to inmates, staff sexual abuse of inmates can also threaten the safety and security of the prison.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Barry.