Home confinement officer accused of civil rights violations

CHARLESTON – A former Greenbrier County home confinement officer is accused of getting too personal with an offender he was assigned to supervise.

Richard Mines is named as a co-defendant in a seven-count civil rights suit filed April 29 by Michelle E. Kelly. In her complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Kelly, 28 and a Lewisburg resident, alleges Mines propositioned her for sexual favors and sent her lurid pictures while she was on home confinement and assigned to the county’s day report center last year.

According to the suit, Kelly on April 5, 2012, was sentenced to begin a term of home confinement. The charges are not stated in court records.

After she was assigned to Mines, she alleges he began to repeatedly harass her sexually. This included, she says, a quid pro quo offer “he would overlook any violations of her sentence to home confinement/day report programs… if she would engage in certain sexual acts with him.”

In her suit, Kelly says the offers were made both personally and via text messages. Also, in at least one instance, Kelly alleges Mines sent her a picture of his penis via text.

According to the suit, Kelly was released from home confinement in July. On an unspecified date, Mines was fired as an HCO.

As a result of Mines’ conduct, Kelly says she’s suffered, among other things, “embarrassment, humiliation, and emotional distress.” Along with ones for arrest, detention and confinement, assault, intentional, and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Mines, Kelly makes claims against the Greenbrier County Commission, which is named as the other co-defendant in the suit, for negligent supervision and training.

In West Virginia, the county commissions and sheriffs are co-employers of HCOs.

Kelly seeks unspecified damages, court costs and attorneys fees. She is represented by Charleston attorney Scott H. Kaminski.

The case is assigned to Judge Joseph R. Goodwin.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, case number 13-cv-9351