Warrant: Chaplain charged after sex act with SC inmate

GREENWOOD, S.C. – A prison chaplain in South Carolina was arrested Tuesday after an inmate performed a sex act on him in his office at a women’s prison, authorities said.

Jefferson Kwamina-Crystal, 65, of Spartanburg, was charged with first-degree criminal sexual misconduct with an inmate, according to an arrest warrant from the Corrections Department.

Kwamina-Crystal had voluntary oral sex with the inmate between August and December in his office at the Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood where he was a chaplain, authorities said.

Kwamina-Crystal was fired after his arrest, the Corrections Department said in a statement.

State law prohibits consensual sexual acts between prison employees and inmates because of the authority the employees have over the prisoners.

Kwamina-Crystal is charged with a felony and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

It wasn’t known if Kwamina-Crystal has a lawyer.