A Peach County jail guard faces criminal charges for having sex with an inmate.
Nicholas Hughley of Macon, age 42, faces two counts of sexual assault and one count of violating his oath as an officer, according to Sheriff Terry Deese.
Deese says his office asked the GBI to investigate the case on Tuesday, after an another inmate told officers about sexual contact between Hughley and the female inmate.
He was arrested Wednesday.
Deese says he expects to fire Hughley Thursday.
He says investigators believe the sex was consensual, but sex between a law officer and a person in custody is still a crime..
Both charges against Hughley are felonies. He faces a sentence of one to 25 years on each sexual assault and a sentence of one to five years on the charge of violating his oath.
The sheriff says Hughley had worked for the department for about a year and had a clean record.
He said, "It’s just another example, police are human, but wrong is wrong and it is what it is. He made that choice and now he’ll have to pay the consequences."
