GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A former mental health provider accused of sexually assaulting an inmate at the Kent County Jail has taken a plea deal.
Theresa Simmons pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and providing a controlled substance to an inmate back on March 24. As part of the plea deal, one count of criminal sexual conduct was dismissed.
Simmons was sentenced to pay fines and court costs equal to $1,575.
It all started in 2022 when Simmons worked as a mental health provider for Family Outreach Center inside the Kent County Jail. She was never a county employee but was part of a contracted service to help the men and women being held in jail.
An inmate claimed Simmons told him she would bail him out of jail in exchange for sexual favors; however, they remain in the Kent County Sheriff's Office's custody.
The victim says in the lawsuit that Simmons wrote him letters saying she loved him and wanted to see his genitals. The victim says at first, he, "thought she was trying to set him up or get him in trouble," because he, "didn't understand why she was doing that," when Simmons would make sexual motions toward him.
He says Simmons slid him a note saying, "she'd give him weed or coke," if he exposed himself or pleasured himself in front of her.
