A former corrections officer for a women's prison near Gig Harbor has been accused of felony sexual misconduct for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate.
Danielle Alexandra Lucas, 32, was charged Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court with first-degree custodial sexual misconduct. Charging documents allege that the relationship at the Washington Corrections Center for Women began in August 2022 and lasted for a few months before it was discovered by other corrections officers and inmates.
An arraignment hearing has been set for Feb. 23 when Lucas is expected to appear before a judge to enter a plea. According to court records, Lucas does not have any felony criminal convictions in Pierce County. Records state the maximum penalty Lucas faces is five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
An attorney for Lucas was not listed in court records. A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, Chris Wright, said Thursday that the department takes allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously. Lucas was placed on home assignment immediately after accusations surfaced in 2022, Wright said, and officials contacted the Washington State Patrol. The DOC launched an internal investigation, but Lucas quit before it was completed, resigning Oct. 3, 2022.
The Washington Corrections Center for Women is a minimum, medium and close security prison with a capacity for 738 inmates north of Gig Harbor.
Detectives with the State Patrol investigated the case. According to charging documents, they interviewed the inmate and other witnesses, reviewed security-camera video of Lucas and the inmate entering a restroom and sent notes that were passed between the two women to the state crime lab to be analyzed for fingerprints.
The State Patrol requested Sept. 28, 2023, that charges be filed against Lucas. Fingerprint analysis was completed by Nov. 21, and a forensic scientist found four impressions from Lucas and five from the inmate over nine pages of notes.
"Though the relationship was consensual, it is still unlawful," a detective wrote in an investigative report. "[The inmate] in this circumstance had reason to believe Lucas had the ability to influence the terms, conditions, length, or fact of incarceration due to her position as an officer."
In an interview with detectives in January 2023, the inmate allegedly said her relationship with Lucas began with the two passing notes to one another. Eventually, it evolved to Lucas telling her she loved her and wanted to be with her. She said Lucas took voluntary overtime shifts on Saturday nights to see her, and the corrections officer would meet her in a restroom during "tier checks."
Two witnesses who spoke with detectives described going to the restroom in the middle of the night and walking in on Lucas and the inmate. One of the witnesses said she felt Lucas gave the inmate special treatment by bringing her candy, nail polish and perfume. The witness allegedly said it didn't look like Lucas was trying to hide her relationship with the inmate.
The inmate tried to end her relationship with Lucas several times, she told detectives. The woman allegedly said she knew Lucas would lose her job, but she said Lucas didn't care if they were caught.
Detectives also interviewed another corrections officer who was in a relationship with Lucas from 2020 to September 2022 and resided with her for a time. Records state she was assigned to the same unit as the inmate Lucas had a relationship with, and she was moved off the unit after the relationship became "public knowledge" at the facility.
The woman, who also provided a written statement to internal investigators, said Lucas had been "walked off the job" Sept. 7, 2022, and Lucas told her she was being put on administrative leave because she'd given her phone number to an inmate. The woman initially believed Lucas, she said, but then coworkers contacted her and said Lucas had been caught in the bathroom with an inmate.
About two weeks later, the corrections officer said she came home from work and found Lucas talking on the phone with someone in their garage. Lucas first said it was her sister, records state, but two hours later Lucas was lying on the floor "giddily" talking to someone. Lucas eventually admitted she was talking to the inmate, and this reportedly led to a confrontation where the corrections officer smacked Lucas.
Lucas called 911, according to court records, and her partner was arrested on a domestic-violence charge. It doesn't appear that the woman was criminally charged.
