Following more interviews after the initial investigation began, new details seem to imply the events that led to the charges may have been a conspiracy between female inmates.Sharp County Jailer Cory Bobo was arrested and terminated from employment Nov. 3 for third degree sexual assault following an investigation brought forth by a female inmate at the Sharp County Jail.
The Sharp County Sheriff’s Department wants to stress this does not in any way make light of the very serious criminal charges filed against the jailer, but merely serves as an explanation regarding the events that led to the charges. According to an investigative report from the Sharp County Sheriff’s Department, on the evening of Nov. 2, the jails night matron Guida Reeves contacted Jail Administrator Stan Haney after discovering what she thought to be strange behavior by several female inmates. The matron said she had spoke with several female inmates, one of whom told her she was reluctant to talk due to fear of reprisal from the jail staff. After insuring the female there would be no reprisal directed to her, she told of a sexual incident that occurred earlier in the day with Bobo in the front restroom of the facility. The female inmate told the matron, she had sex with Bobo and that the condom had been placed in the garbage can in the men’s restroom. Reeves then retrieved the used condom and wrapper and put in into an evidence bag and secured it for the investigator.
Detective Ken Guidry met with the alleged victim who was reluctant to talk because she said she was nearly finished working off her fines and didn’t want any of the information to affect her release. After being Mirandized, the female inmate admitted to having sex with Bobo in the men’s restroom and also told of other sexually inappropriate behavior by the jailer the same day. The inmate also told her Bobo admitted to her he had sex with two other inmates who were no longer incarcerated in the facility.
A second female inmate who told him the jailer had exposed himself to her on two different occasions as well as touching her inappropriately in August. A third female inmate was then interviewed as a witness, followed by a fourth interview with another female inmate who also claimed the jailer had exposed himself to her the same day during visitation time while waiting for the female matron to return her to her cell. Following the interviews, Guidry made contact with Arkansas State Police Special Investigator Wendell Jines to assist with the investigation.
Guidry then interviewed another female inmate who had allegedly overheard conversations between two of the female inmates conspiring to get Bobo in trouble by getting him to have sex with them so they could sue the Sheriff’s Department. The female witnesses told Guidry the two inmates had been talking in depth about the plan to set Bobo up. One witness said she overheard the female inmate who Bobo had sex with, stating she needed to get her hands on a condom so she could leave it as evidence. Shortly before 8:30 a.m. Nov. 3, Bobo was brought into C.I.D. where he was interviewed and confessed to having sex with three inmates in the men’s bathroom at the facility since August. Before noon, Counts had relieved Bobo of his duties as jailer in light of the charges.
A second female inmate was then interviewed as a witness who also concurred with statements made by the first, stating the inmate said she could set Bobo up so she could “own the county.” The interviews also revealed the two women had heard of a similar case in Newport where an inmate received a large settlement as well as getting charges dropped.
The female witnesses told Guidry the two inmates had been talking in depth about the plan to set Bobo up. One witness said she overheard the female inmate who Bobo had sex with, stating she needed to get her hands on a condom so she could leave it as evidence. The inmate who admitted to having sex with Bobo works around the courthouse area performing community service to work off her fines, including cleaning the bathrooms. The witness said she purposefully left the condom in the trash can so it could be discovered by the jail staff and said she overheard the alleged victim tell she had left cleaner on the floor of the bathroom so no one could use it. After a second interview with the alleged victim by both Jines and Guidry, she denied the allegations by the other female inmates of the set up.
On Nov. 7, investigators met with the second inmate Bobo confessed to having sex with. The female inmate admitted the allegations but said she did not come forward because of problems it might cause in her marriage. Later in the day Guidry interviewed another witness who also told the investigator she had heard of the plot between the other two females to set up the jailer. She said the women had been touching and making lewd comments to the jailer for a few weeks prior to the Nov. 2 sexual incident. The witness told Guidry the plan she overheard the two talking about was for the second female inmate to walk into the bathroom while Bobo was having sex with the other as a witness so she could claim rape charges. She explained the purpose was to help the female inmate get out of jail earlier.