The investigation into an alleged relationship between a Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) corrections officer and an inmate started after the inmate tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection, according to a criminal complaint.
The officer, Chevonne Culbreath, was arrested Tuesday after she was accused of having a relationship with an inmate and attempting to bring an illegal substance into the jail, according to a Bernalillo County news release.
According to MDC records, Culbreath was still in custody as of Thursday afternoon. She is facing one second-degree criminal sexual penetration charge and attempting to commit a felony.
According to a criminal complaint, an inmate was tested for a sexually transmitted infection on Sept. 10 after seeking medical care. The results, according to the criminal complaint, showed he tested positive for gonorrhea and he then disclosed an alleged relationship with Culbreath, which spurred the investigation that led to her arrest.
According to the criminal complaint, the inmate told a Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Office (BCSO) deputy the inmate and Culbreath had sexual relations for two or three months and had sex in a supply closet on Aug. 25. The deputy reported viewing surveillance footage from Aug. 25 that showed the inmate and Culbreath entering a supply closet for six minutes and showing the closet door “shake back and forth.”
In an interview with the deputy, Culbreath reportedly said she would receive letters from inmates with their numbers but would throw them away and denied having any physical contact with the inmate.
Not long after the interview, according to the criminal complaint, Culbreath told deputies she wanted to make another statement — where she told them the inmate would make sexual remarks toward her and she would give him candy and food in hopes that he would leave her alone.
According to the deputy’s narrative, Culbreath admitted to kissing the inmate and then having sex with him because he threatened to “report her if she didn’t do what he wanted.”
Culbreath, according to BCSO, also told deputies on Sept. 16 the inmate wanted her to bring him drugs from his “baby mama.” Culbreath claims she met with the woman, who allegedly gave Culbreath a breakfast burrito with a plastic bag of cannabis extract tucked inside.
The complaint states Culbreath “decided against” bringing the burrito into the jail and left it at her home in her refrigerator.
City Desk ABQ contacted Culbreath’s attorney but did not receive a response as of press time.