Ex-prison worker charged with sexual assault of inmate

ALLOUEZ – An Appleton woman faces three charges of second-degree assault by prison staff for allegedly engaging in sex acts with an inmate who is serving more than 50 years for armed robbery.

Gayle Saldaris, 51, engaged in sexual acts with the man in a freezer and a vegetable cooler at Green Bay Correctional Institution while working in a food service job in 2014, prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

The charges are part of an amended criminal complaint. Saldaris was charged in March with felony delivery of a controlled substance — 1.25 grams of amphetamine — in connection with an alleged attempt to get drugs into the prison in November 2014.

Brown County Circuit Court Commissioner Paul Burke set bond at $5,000 for the woman, and scheduled a May 22 preliminary hearing. She had been free on $2,000 bond on the drug charge before the sex charges were filed.

PDF: Read the criminal complaint against Gayle Saldaris

In court Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Kate Zuidmulder argued for higher bond, saying Saldaris victimized a vulnerable individual.

"The defendant took (advantage of), essentially, a position of power," she said.

But defense attorney Brad Priebe argued that adding the sex charges amounted to "another kick at the cat" by prosecutors, who he said were frustrated his client was fighting the drug charge.

"This isn't about anything she's done since she's been released from custody," he said. "If she was such a danger to the community, if she was a flight risk, if she was a predator, they had every opportunity" to lock her up.

Saldaris appeared in court Wednesday by video link from the Brown County Jail. She did not speak at the proceeding. As the allegations were read, she occasionally rubbed her temples.

The man with whom Saldaris is accused of having sex is a 34-year-old Milwaukee resident who is in prison for a 1999 armed robbery in Milwaukee County. The man met Saldaris when he worked on the prison's food line, the complaint says.

While the criminal complaint indicates the man willingly engaged in the sex acts, the law prohibits consensual sex between prison staff and inmates. Press-Gazette Media is not identifying him because he is the victim of an alleged sex crime.

"The defendant would be very aggressive and would jump toward (the alleged victim) and begin to kiss him very aggressively," the complain states. It says the activities escalated from kissing to touching the victim through his pants.

In a statement, state corrections officials said inmates may confidentially report allegations of sexual misconduct in accordance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act. All allegations are investigated internally and referred to outside law enforcement when appropriate, the DOC said.

"The department has a zero-tolerance standard regarding sexual contact, sexual assault and sexual harassment of offenders," the DOC said.

The drug charge stems from an attempt to get a former coworker to deliver drugs to the prison in November. The coworker's roommate discovered a packet containing suspected drugs and turned it over to a sheriff's deputy. The contents turned out to be ethylone, a controlled substance, the complaint says.

Saldaris was a food service leader at the prison from April 7, 2014, to July 22, 2014. She was terminated during her probationary period, according to the state Department of Corrections.

— dschneid@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @PGDougSchneider