Former SC corrections employees accused of arranging sex with an inmate
Two South Carolina Department of Corrections employees were arrested and fired for helping inmates secure contraband, including a golf club and golf balls. In addition, one of the former employees engaged in a sexual relationship with an inmate while the other employee helped to arrange sexual meetings between the two, according to SCDC’s Office of Inspector General.
Corina Francine Richards-Parnell, 34, who worked in SCDC’s food warehouse on Broad River Road, was charged with sexual misconduct with an inmate, two counts of criminal conspiracy, dissemination of obscenity and providing contraband to an inmate, according to a news release. Brittany Alexandria Brazel, 35, Richards-Parnell’s supervisor, was charged with accessory before and after the fact of sexual misconduct with an inmate, failure to report sexual misconduct, two counts of criminal conspiracy and two counts of providing contraband to an inmate.
Following an initial investigation in September, where investigators found that Richards-Parnell had illegally sold vapes to three inmates, a subsequent investigation found she’d been involved in a sexual relationship with an inmate at Walden Farm in Columbia since Sept. 1, and had helped the man — along with Brazel — acquire a golf club and golf balls, a news release said.
Golf clubs and golf balls are classified as contraband under a directive by the warden, an arrest warrant said. The inmate told investigators the items were for recreational use after pointing to where he’d concealed them at the facility, according to an arrest warrant.
Investigators say that Brazel met Richards-Parnell at the food warehouse to pick up the contraband and then delivered them to the inmate on the farm.
Evidence gathered from witness interviews and text messages between Brazel and Richards-Parnell revealed that the two women discussed the prohibited delivery as well as times when Richards-Parnell and the inmate would meet for sexual encounters, the warrant said.
In addition, text messages between Richards-Parnell and the inmate — who possessed a contraband cell phone — showed the pair had exchanged illicit images and videos, according to the warrant. Physical encounters between the two occurred at the SCDC Broad River Complex, according to the warrant.
Both Brazel and Richards-Parnell were booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Dentention Center.
