SMITHFIELD – A correctional officer at Johnston Correctional Institution in Smithfield has been arrested on criminal charges. On Tuesday, the NC State Bureau of Investigation was asked by state prison officials to investigate allegations of the sexual assault of an inmate.
After investigating the incident and consulting with the Johnston County District Attorney’s Office, Johnta Shakur Sessions, 27, of Pikeville, NC, a correctional officer at the prison, was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual activity by a substitute custodian.
After taking Sessions before a magistrate, he was issued a $100,000 secured bond at the Johnston County Jail.
The NC SBI declined to release any additional information about the incident.
John Bull, Communications Officer with the NC Department of Public Safety, told Johnston County Report, “The Department of Public Safety has zero tolerance for any staff involved in any illegal activity and is cooperating fully in this investigation. The Department has many hard-working correctional professionals and it takes staff arrests very seriously. These allegations are under internal investigation as well.”
Sessions had been employed at Johnston Correctional since 2017. He resigned Tuesday, the day of his arrest.
Johnston Correctional houses approximately 480 minimum security offenders.
