Crooksville guard pleads not guilty to sexual battery

ATHENS COUNTY — A Crooksville man who worked as a guard at a Nelsonville jail has denied a charge accusing him of engaging in sexual conduct with an inmate he supervised.

Carl H. Durst appeared this week in Athens County Common Pleas Court to plead not guilty to sexual battery, a third-degree felony. A judge scheduled his trial for Dec. 15.

Durst, 49, of 2350 Township Road 197 in Crooksville, has been free on bond since his indictment in September.

Guard indicted on sexual battery commended in evals

Durst was hired in 1999 at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville, which has housed inmates for Athens, Morgan, Hocking and Vinton counties since 1998.

He was arrested in Athens County after authorities said he engaged in sexual conduct Aug. 27 with an inmate he supervised. A covert recording device captured the alleged sexual encounter in a jail work truck between Durst and an inmate, according to the Nelsonville Police Department's initial report.

Durst was briefly held at the Meigs County Jail after his arrest on a $25,000 bond before he was released.

The regional jail placed him on paid administrative leave indefinitely until the investigation and criminal proceedings are concluded; the jail warden could not be reached Friday to determine whether that was still the case.

elagatta@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @EricLagatta