Prison nurse charged with helping inmate escape, so they could have sex

Katherine Heckman, 38, was employed as a nurse in South Carolina’s Chester County Detention Center.  Authorities at the Detention Center in Chester received a tip that the nurse left the prison on multiple occasions with one of the inmates, 33-year-old Sean Lyles, so the two could have sex.  Fox News reported the Chester County Sheriff’s Office as saying that the two left the jail at least six times in October and November and that their affair had been going on for several months.

Officials say that Lyles was close to completing his prison term and as a state trustee had certain privileges at the Detention Center which included being granted permission to leave the grounds on occasion, according to WSOC-TV.  Lyles was charged with two counts of escape and attempted escape according to NBC News affiliate WCNC.  He was originally imprisoned on burglary charges.

According to police arrest reports, Heckman was taken into custody on November 28. She is the daughter of the Detention Center’s supervisor, Richard Odom, who reportedly had no knowledge of his daughter’s sexual affair with the inmate. The nurse was placed on leave without pay from the Detention Center and charged with aiding an inmate’s escape from prison and first-degree sexual misconduct with an inmate of a correctional facility.  Heckman was also employed as an EMT in Chester County where she was stripped of her EMT license and fired from her position.  She is currently free on bond.

After receiving the e-mail tip about Heckman and Lyles, WCNC quoted Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood as saying, “We got on this quick, as soon as we heard about it, and put an end to it. This isn’t going to happen here.”

Written by:  Ace News Today Staff