From WRIL -
On Friday May 20,2022, two separate incidents at the Claiborne County Jail were being investigated.
The first involved the tragic death of an inmate that took his own life inside the facility while in general population. Facility surveillance video shows that the inmate was on the second floor of the jail and jumped over the railing to the ground floor resulting in his death.
Sheriff Bob Brooks tells WRIL that the inmate was arrested for domestic violence and had been seen and examined by the jail nurse and exhibited no signs of distress or a propensity for harming himself. The sheriff also stated that the man’s conversations with correctional officers were normal and he “appeared fine in every way.”
While the inmates name has yet to be released, an investigation is under way and more details are expected soon.
The second of the two incidents involved the arrest of a Claiborne Jail correctional officer booked into the facility at 6:27pm on Friday evening. 21-year-old Austin Butcher was arrested at the jail after an investigation into rape allegations against him. The Claiborne County charges are not associated with the jail.
Butcher has been charged with three felonies; aggravated rape, rape, and mitigated statutory rape. He has been transferred to another facility for his safety.
Austin Butcher had been a corrections officer at the jail since the end of 2021.
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