Former jailer pleads guilty to sex charges

BENTON -- Sentencing is set for September 26th for a former Franklin County jail inmate who has pleaded guilty to three counts of custodial sexual misconduct with female inmates.

Twenty-seven-year-old Scott McMurray of Christopher was taken into custody in July after an investigation revealed accusations against him by three women housed at the Benton lockup.

Sheriff Bill Wilson says investigators suspected McMurray was trading cigarettes for sexual favors.

Wilson says the misconduct was carried out over two or three months before the first inmate came forward in June.

Investigators say McMurray broke jail policy by going into the female cell block without a female staff member.

He had been a correctional officer at the county jail since January 2007.