Former Nebraska Assistant Prison Warden Pleads Guilty To Unlawful Acts With Inmate In Exchange For Dropping Sex Charges

By Paul Hammel, Nebraska Examiner:

October 3, 2022

LINCOLN — A former assistant Nebraska prison warden, Sarah Nelson Torsiello, pleaded guilty Monday to felony unlawful acts with an inmate in exchange for having two felony charges of sexually abusing the inmate dropped.

Torsiello, 45, an assistant warden at the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln, was arrested in January after an investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol.

She was accused of kissing and fondling a then-37-year-old inmate who was serving life in prison for a murder in Douglas County.

Trial was to begin Monday

On Monday, the day her jury trial was to begin, Torsiello reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, pleading guilty to an unlawful “visitation or communication” with an inmate, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

She had faced a sentence of up to 23 years behind bars on the two charges of sexual abuse of an inmate, 1st and 2nd degree, which were dismissed as part of the plea bargain.

An arrest affidavit, filed in support of the charges, stated the assistant warden had purchased a “burner” cell phone so she could communicate with the inmate, who had a contraband phone.

Director expressed disappointment

When Torsiello was arrested, State Corrections Director Scott Frakes expressed disappointment that such a high-ranking member of his agency had been charged.

“Inappropriate behavior involving a member of the inmate population will not be tolerated in (the state prison system),” Frakes said at the time.

Torsiello, who had worked for the state prison system since 2003, resigned after her arrest.

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