A former Campbell Regional Juvenile Detention Center correctional officer has been sentenced to prison, more than three years after authorities launched an investigation into sexual misconduct at the facility.
Campbell County Circuit Judge Daniel Zalla sentenced 32-year-old Neil Moorman to 3½ years on Sept. 16. He pleaded guilty in August to felony unlawful transaction with a minor charges, less serious offenses than the sexual abuse counts Moorman was indicted on in 2024.
Prosecutors said in court filings that Moorman exploited his position to prey upon girls during the less than two months he worked at the facility in Newport, subjecting two of them to “illegal sexual contact” on several occasions.
Moorman did so “wielding a position of power,
trust and authority over an incredibly vulnerable population,” prosecutors said. His firing in June 2023 came amid a criminal investigation by the Kentucky State Police.
Bradley Fox, Moorman’s attorney, declined to comment on the case. He asked the judge to impose the recommended sentence negotiated in Moorman’s plea agreement.
Court documents and internal investigation records show statements from inmates and staff, as well as video evidence, documented Moorman’s inappropriate interactions with girls at the facility.
Allegations against Moorman prompted official inquiries by the state’s Department of Juvenile Justice and an ongoing lawsuit by nurses who worked at the facility, raising questions about whether officials covered up sexual abuse reports.
His indictment came shortly after the U.S. Department of Justiceopened an investigation into possible systemic violations within the state’s juvenile justice facilities, including sexual abuse.
“You failed to honor your conduct with inmates,” Zalla said in court. “That is a breach of conduct which is severe.”
Investigation details relationship between Moorman, inmate
Court filings offer sparse details outlining Moorman’s behavior toward the inmates. However, internal investigation records show state officials substantiated a report of sexual misconduct against him in August 2023.
A girl told investigators that she was in a relationship with Moorman, adding that they kissed and Moorman grabbed her buttocks. She said the relationship started when she and Moorman played basketball together.
Moorman asked if she “liked him” and wrote letters saying he wanted to “mess with” the girl outside the detention center, the records state. She flushed the letters down the toilet so the facility’s staff wouldn’t find them.
The girl said she never reported the relationship because she was “afraid to get in trouble” or increase the length of her incarceration.
Another inmate told investigators that she witnessed Moorman and a girl kissing, passing notes and “grabbing private areas,” the records state. Surveillance cameras also captured him leaning into a girl’s cell, followed by an audible kissing noise.
Moorman later told a detective that he kissed a girl three times and hugged her twice, but denied grabbing her sexually. He even admitted communicating with an inmate on Snapchat.
It’s unclear from the investigative records obtained by The Enquirer whether those incidents involved the one girl or multiple, as officials redacted the inmates’ names and other identifying information.
Investigators also substantiated allegations that Moorman improperly supervised inmates by taking them to areas they weren’t supposed to be and being alone with them out of view of surveillance cameras, including in a girl’s room.
‘Everybody knew about it’
When officials hired Moorman to work at the facility in April 2023, it had been operating as a girls-only detention center for about four months – part of an effort to improve safety within the state’s juvenile justice system.
His firing roughly coincided with Gov. Andy Beshear's announcement that inmates at the facility would move to another detention center due to a lack of staff, according to WVXU.
Rumors about Moorman’s interactions with the girls circulated among inmates and concerns about his behavior were well known to the facility’s staff and administrators, according to the records.
His supervisors even tried to keep Moorman in the control room, away from a specific unit and certain inmates. He ignored orders to stay away. One staff member said the situation went unaddressed too long and “some things could have been prevented,” according to the records.
Another told investigators that Moorman’s interactions with inmates persisted because of low staffing and a shortage of supervisors at the facility.
Other sexual misconduct allegations against Moorman were reported to investigators, but deemed unsubstantiated, with officials citing insufficient evidence, the records show.
In one instance, surveillance cameras captured him taking two girls to the facility’s laundry room, an area restricted to inmates and out of camera view.
One of those girls said that she acted as a lookout while Moorman kissed and groped the other girl, the records state. She added that Moorman gave some inmates special privileges, like time out of their cells, unrestricted phone calls and extra snacks.
However, the other girl denied allegations that Moorman said or did anything inappropriate while in the laundry room.
Officials also investigated a sexual assault allegation against Moorman, the records state, finding the claims to be unfounded.
An inmate who reported Moorman's relationship with another girl also complained that the state's female juvenile inmates were brought from other detention centers to the Campbell County facility to prevent sexual abuse. She added that it was still happening.
When investigators asked whether other inmates knew about the relationship, she responded, "Everybody knew about it."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Everybody knew.' Officer sentenced for misconduct involving girls in custody
