Former prison employee accused of having romantic relationship with inmate
A former DeSoto Annex prison employee is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with an inmate and sneaking contraband into the facility.
By WBBH News Staff
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CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Florida (WBBH) — It’s “Orange is the New Black” brought to life. A former DeSoto Annex prison employee is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with an inmate and sneaking contraband into the facility.
According to an arrest warrant filed in Charlotte County, an investigation was launched after an officer at the Charlotte Correctional Institution found a mobile phone inside a bunk in a cell on Jan. 17, 2023.
Officers investigated the contraband cell phone and discovered a staff-prisoner relationship between the inmate and DeSoto Annex correctional officer Austyn Kellogg.
According to the report, the phone was used from Jan. 7 to Jan. 16, 2023, during which a combined total of 114 calls, 651 messages and 124 pictures were exchanged between the two.
The Florida Department of Corrections’ internal sources showed the inmate was housed at the DeSoto Annex between Feb. 16, 2021, and Sept. 8, 2022, the same facility where Kellogg worked, before he was transferred to the Charlotte Correctional Institution. He was released on December 6, 2023.
Kellogg worked at DeSoto Annex from Feb. 19, 2021, through March 30, 2023, when she resigned.
A sexual battery case was opened following the man’s release.
On June 30, 2023, the man was interviewed by detectives and admitted he had a consensual sexual and romantic relationship with Kellogg while he was an inmate at the DeSoto Annex.
According to the document, he told detectives that he paid Kellogg through Cash App several times for cigarettes and marijuana to sell them to other inmates.
He stated that he used the contraband cell phone to continue communicating with Kellogg after he was transferred.
The report states they talked and texted daily, with conversations including their plans to start a family after his release and phone sex.
He was interviewed again by detectives on Oct. 11, 2023. He said they had sexual intercourse in August 2021 at the DeSoto Annex.
He also stated that Kellogg would use multiple aliases to communicate with him on the phone after he transferred.
Kellogg is facing charges for bringing contraband into a secure facility.
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