Officer charged in alleged sex with inmate

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) -- A corrections officer from Tower has been charged with seven felony counts for allegedly having sex with a female inmate.

Fifty-six-year-old James Allen Bongaarts is accused of multiple acts of sexual misconduct with a female inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Togo. The facility, also known as Thistledew, houses a boot camp for non-dangerous adult women offenders.

The complaint, filed Friday in Itasca County District Court, says the inmate told an investigator Thursday they had sex or attempted sex 10 times, most recently Wednesday. The complaint says Bongaarts admitted to having sex with her or attempting sex several times.

The Duluth News Tribune reports Bongaarts is in jail and makes his first court appearance Monday. He did not immediately return a phone message left at the jail Sunday.

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