Chester County Detention employee charged with having sex with inmate, aiding escape

A Chester County Detention Center nurse is charged with having sex with an inmate and aiding an inmate’s escape from prison, according to a Chester County Sheriff’s Office report.

In October and November, Katherine Leanne Heckman, 38, identified on the report as a nurse at the Chester County Detention Center, is charged with having sex with an inmate and helping the inmate escape on multiple occasions, the report states.

The inmate is identified as Sean Kenneth Lyles, 33. Lyles is charged with burglary and escape from prison, the report states.

Lyles has been shipped back to the S.C. Department of Corrections, said Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood on Wednesday.

From Oct. 1 to 31 and from Nov. 1 to 27, Heckman is charged with aiding Lyles’ escape from the detention center on three separate occasions, the report states.

During that same time period, Heckman is charged with having sex with Lyles, the report states. The report states Lyles escaped from the facility several times during that same time period.

Heckman has been released on bond, according to the detention center.

Chester County Sheriff's Office officials learned of the alleged incidents Monday and asked deputies with the Union County Sheriff's Office to come to Chester to investigate, Underwood said.

An investigation throughout the day Monday led to Heckman and Lyles being charged, Underwood said.

“I will not allow this type of behavior,” Underwood said. “This is not going to be tolerated.”

Heckman was not a sheriff's office employee, but a practitioner from a company that contracts with the sheriff's office to provide medical services at the detention center, Underwood said.

Investigators say the inmate was allowed off the sheriff's office property during the incidents and was able to return to the property, Underwood said. Command staff at the sheriff's office is looking into security measures to determine how this happened.

"This is the first and last time," Underwood said.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Chester County Detention employee charged with having sex with inmate, aiding escape."