Former prison guard gets probation for sex with inmate

SCRANTON (AP) — A former guard at a Pennsylvania prison has been sentenced to nine months of probation for having sex with an inmate while she was out on work release nearly a decade ago.

Jeffrey Staff was one of seven guards to be charged with sexually abusing inmates at Lackawanna County Prison. He pleaded no contest to official oppression and was sentenced Thursday. The 43-year-old from Clarks Summit has also been barred from getting another job in a prison or law enforcement.

Earlier this month, a jury acquitted another former guard, George McHale, of coercing an inmate to perform a sex act on him while he stood outside her cell in 2009.

State prosecutors have alleged a culture of sexual coercion and cover-up at the jail in Scranton.