Former Putnamville Correctional Facility employee takes plea deal

A former Putnamville Correctional Facility nurse has learned her fate after being charged with several counts following an interaction last year with an inmate. 

According to court documents, Lian S. Dodds took a plea deal where she plead guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with an inmate in exchange for two felony charges being dropped. As a result, Dodds was sentenced to two years and 180 days in the Indiana Department of Correction. She received credit for eight days and got two years suspended. She had originally faced two counts of sexual misconduct with an inmate and one count of official misconduct, all Level 6 felonies carrying a sentence range of a half year in jail to two-and-a-half years in prison, along with potential fines. 

Dodds was arrested last November after admitting to an IDOC investigator that she kissed an inmate, Brandon D. Roberts, who was serving a decade behind bars for dealing cocaine.  

The two allegedly went into a closet where Dodds admitted to kissing an inmate and spending a lot of time with him. In addition, there was an incident where Roberts grabbed Dodds' buttocks, pulled her in close, kissed her and tried to get her to touch him sexually. Dodds refused but did not call for assistance. 

Dodds was terminated as an employee at Putnamville Correctional Facility, and Roberts has not been charged with anything new stemming from the interactions with Dodds.