AUBURN – An Androscoggin County Jail guard was accused Wednesday of having a woman inmate perform oral sex on him Oct. 16 at the Auburn lockup.

Richard L. Adams, 30, of 40 Damy Drive in Auburn was indicted by a grand jury on a single count of gross sexual assault. He was issued a summons to appear in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

The full-time corrections officer is accused of having a 25-year-old woman prisoner perform oral sex on him while he was on duty.

By Maine law, sex between a guard and inmate is considered the equivalent of rape because of the “supervisory or disciplinary authority” the corrections officer has over the prisoner, the indictment said.

Adams was placed on administrative leave in October after the allegations of sexual impropriety, according to Androscoggin County Chief Deputy Guy Desjardins.

The woman named in the indictment had been serving time since her arrest Sept. 12 for assaulting a woman in Lewiston. The 25-year-old woman told someone she had performed oral sex on the guard, investigators said.

Maine State Police have been investigating the case while jail officials conduct their own internal review.

Desjardins met with Sheriff Ronald Gagnon and jail Capt. John Lebel recently to discuss the matter. Adams was not present. It was not known Wednesday when a final decision will be made on Adams’ employment at the jail. It was unclear how long he has worked there.

The woman remained behind bars Wednesday night.

Androscoggin County has had at least one other allegation of sexual misconduct by a jail guard.

In 2000, a 30-year-old woman complained that a guard on several occasions went to her cell late at night, woke her up and forced her to have sex.

The district attorney said he found inconsistencies and contradictions in the woman’s accusations and declined to bring charges.

It is a crime for anyone in authority at a jail or prison to have sex with an inmate regardless of whether the prisoner consents or not, according to Maine statute.

“Guards obviously have a large control over inmates in their daily lives. They can make their lives miserable and they can make their lives better,” William Stokes, head of criminal prosecutions for the Attorney General’s Office, said a year ago while handling a case against a pair of prison guards.

In that case, two former Maine Correctional Center guards pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful sexual conduct for having sex with inmates at the Windham prison. Robert Shepard and Scott Durgin had originally been charged with gross sexual assault but admitted to the lesser charges as part of a plea arrangement.

In 1999, a Cumberland County jail guard accused of providing cigarettes to a female inmate in exchange for sex pleaded guilty and resigned from the Sheriff’s Department. As part of a plea agreement, George Blake, 48, of Bridgton was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and serve a one-year probation.

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