Washington Co. jail guard accused of sending lewd photos to teen girl
A Washington County jail guard is wearing a different type of uniform behind bars after he was accused this week of sending explicit images of himself to a teenage girl in the Mon Valley earlier this year.
Curtis Anthony Gardner Jr., 27, was arrested Tuesday on felony charges of disseminating sexual materials to a minor and unlawful contact with a minor after investigators said he sent a video of his genitals to the girl using a social media app, including one photo that showed him wearing his jail uniform.
Investigators were first notified of the situation when the 16-year-old girl from Union Township went to a career day fair at her school in late April and she saw a Washington County jail corrections officer working a booth.
She told him she had been on the app Snapchat messaging a man named Curtis, who had allegedly sent her a lewd video of himself, according to court documents. When she zoomed in on a freeze frame showing him in his uniform, she could see a Washington County Correctional Facility patch identifying him as a jail guard, investigators said.
She described Gardner’s appearance, and the corrections officer at the career fair notified his supervisor. The two jail employees then contacted the school’s police officer, who notified the state’s ChildLine services to initiate the investigation.
City of Monongahela officers, who are contracted to offer police protection in Union Township, soon became involved and began investigating the situation. Monongahela police and detectives with the Washington County District Attorney’s office interviewed the girl in early May and she told them that the two began messaging each other in late March.
A three-second clip archived in Gardner’s profile allegedly showed him pulling down his pants and boxers to expose himself in the video, court documents state.
During a police interview with investigators a week later, Gardner allegedly admitted that he “has a lot of (genital) pics and does send them to people on Snapchat after they rise to his criteria,” according to court documents. Gardner told police he did not remember interacting with the girl’s profile, but she told investigators that he knew she was underage when they were messaging each other, court documents allege.
It’s not known how long Gardner has been a county jail guard, nor if he was placed on leave from his job after the allegations surfaced in April or if he has since been terminated.
Washington County jail Warden Jeffrey Fewell did not respond to a phone message seeking comment Thursday. County solicitor Gary Sweat said he was unaware of the charges when contacted by a reporter Thursday, although he expected Fewell would email county officials about the case or brief them on the situation during next month’s prison board meeting.
Washington County Commission Chairman Nick Sherman, who heads the county’s prison board, said in a written statement that they could not comment due to it being an active investigation and a personnel matter.
Gardner, of Canton Township, was arrested by Monongahela police Tuesday and arraigned by District Judge Phillippe Melograne on the two felony charges and one misdemeanor count of corruption of minors. He is jailed on $150,000 cash bond, although it’s not known if he is being held at the Washington County jail or another facility. His preliminary hearing before Melograne is tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday.