A woman who worked in the Washington County Jail kitchen is accused of cornering two men inside walk-in coolers and fondling them in separate incidents, according to an affidavit.

Szilvia Patakine Takacs

Szilvia Patakine Takacs is facing a pair of misdemeanor sex abuse charges, as well as a misdemeanor custodial sex misconduct charge, according to court records. Deputies have tried to contact her numerous times since a warrant for her arrest was issued in April, but they suspect she's left the country, according to a county sheriff's office spokesman.

Takacs, 48, was working for Trinity Services Group, which is contracted to provide food services to the jail. The affidavit, filed in April in Washington County Circuit Court, said she was "removed from the facility" when the allegations against her surfaced.

Phone messages left for the contractor Wednesday night about Takacs' employment status weren't immediately returned. The alleged abuse happened in January 2014 and December 2015, according to court records. KOIN first reported about the allegations Wednesday.

Washington County Sheriff's Detective John Bennett wrote in the affidavit that he started investigating the alleged abuse in December 2015.

Both men -- neither of whom are currently held in the jail -- said they worked in the kitchen, according to the affidavit. They allege Takacs cornered them in separate incidents and fondled them.

One alleges Takacs grabbed his penis through his clothing and that he was shocked by the incident. The other alleges she rubbed his body -- "including the area of his penis," Bennett wrote -- while saying he could get privileges and that they could be more than friends when he's released from custody. The man said he was extremely uncomfortable during the advance, Bennett wrote.

Both of the men alleged she regularly made sexually explicit jokes. One alleged she was flirty with him and other inmate workers, that he rejected what Bennett referred to as "Takacs' future sexual advances" and that she tried to get him removed from his kitchen worker job.

The other alleges she verbally abused him after he rebuffed her advances. He also told Bennett that Takacs got upset with him at one point and that she opened an oven door aggressively, hitting his arm. He described his burn injury as minor.

The two men said they didn't know each other, Bennett wrote.

Bennett also interviewed a Trinity employee who is the jail's kitchen supervisor. She said she didn't hear Takacs make any sexual comments or jokes to inmates and that she didn't know of sexual contact between Takacs and inmates.

The supervisor said she had previously spoken with Takacs about touching inmates -- "because she had seen Takacs patting an inmate's arm or touching an inmate" in a friendly, non-sexual way, Bennett wrote.

Takacs also received a disciplinary write-up and counseling after speaking with inmates at work about her son needing a job, the supervisor told Bennett. One inmate said his mother might be able to help and that Takacs ended up meeting with her, according to the affidavit.

Bennett also interviewed Takacs in February at her home in Northeast Portland. She said she didn't do anything wrong and that she didn't ever have inappropriate physical contact with any inmate.

Bennett wrote that he tried to get in touch with Takacs several times since initially contacting her and that he thinks she "may have left for an extended trip to her home country of Hungary..."

Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett issued a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive about the allegations against Takacs. It reads, in part, that "she was immediately relieved of her position until the investigation was completed" when deputies learned of the allegations.

"Every person who works at the Washington County Jail is held to the same high standards the public expects from their Sheriff's Office," the statement says.

-- Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015