KENOSHA -- A former Kenosha County Corrections Officer faces accusations that he sexually assaulted a prisoner under his supervision.
Jonathon Kwiatkowski is charged with one count of sexual assault and misconduct. But other women say they are willing to testify he called and texted them on phone numbers he could have only gotten from their files.
Kwiatkowski looked visibly upset as he made his first court appearance Monday afternoon. The former Kenosha County Detention Center Officer directly supervised prisoners.
"The allegations are very serious, they involve an abuse of authority and a breach of trust," says Carli McNeill, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney.
He is alleged to have touched a woman sexually when he was changing her electronic monitoring bracelet. According to the defense, where the abuse was alleged to have occurred is a place in the facility that does not allow its officers to be left alone.
"When you look at the criminal complaint, aside from her allegations, there does not seem to be anything else to corroborate what she is complaining," says Kristyne Watson, defense attorney.
But the prosecution says the officer was in contact with the victim before the allegations through a ghost phone number he got through an app. He admitted to texting for months with the victim before the alleged assault.
She was not the only woman who says she was contacted personally by Kwiatowski. In the criminal complaint, he admitted he got cell phone numbers of two other women under electronic monitoring from their files.
"To me at least he was utilizing his position of authority in order to enable contact with inmates," says Commissioner Jon Mason, Kenosha County Intake Court.
One of those women says they had a sexual relationship after her electronic monitoring sentence ended.
The court says at the very least the former corrections officer violated the public's trust and failed at his job.
"He has an obligation to keep them safe from people such as himself," Mason says.
Kwiatowski resigned from the department last fall. The court set bond for Kwiatowski at $50,000. He will be back in court in two weeks.
