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A former Hall County corrections officer was convicted Monday of sexually abusing a female inmate.
Jason Keller, 28, 1033 S. Vine St., pleaded no contest to sexual abuse of an inmate in Hall County District Court as part of a plea agreement.
Deputy Hall County Attorney Gail VerMaas said Keller had sexual contact with an inmate at the Hall County Jail on Nov. 1, 2006, while he was an officer there. But she said Keller did not use force, coercion or threats.
Keller was employed at the jail from February 2005 to December 2006 and was initially charged with sexually assaulting an inmate last March.
He pleaded not guilty to that charge in June and was scheduled to go on trial on Monday.
But the trial was averted through the plea deal, with terms that require prosecutors to ask for probation without jail time at sentencing.
As part of the agreement, VerMaas also said her office doesn't believe the Nebraska Sex Offender Registration Act requires Keller to register.
The charge of sexual assault of an inmate had previously been reduced to sexual abuse of an inmate, a Class 3 felony.
Through the plea agreement, it was reduced once more on Monday, to a Class 4 felony, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Hall County District Judge Richard Livingston allowed Keller to remain free on bond, provided he returns at 10 a.m. April 22 for his sentencing and cooperates with his pre-sentence investigation.
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