As former Washington County Jail employee Jill Curry makes her way to prison for having sex with an inmate, she's alleging a third jail worker had sex with the same inmate.

A judge sentenced Curry, 38, to more than four years in prison Monday after her guilty plea last month on 28 counts. The charges included first-degree sexual misconduct and official misconduct for repeatedly letting an inmate out of his cell and having sex with him in a supply closet.

Curry was the first of two civilian staff members arrested last summer on similar accusations involving the 25-year-old inmate. Former employee Brett Robinson, 32, is also charged with custodial sexual misconduct. She's scheduled to go to trial in April.

At her sentencing, Curry gave a tearful apology for compromising the security of the entire jail.

But hours later, Curry released a statement that describes the inmate as a sociopath and says she lacked the training to supervise problematic inmates.

Her statement further says that the inmate disclosed other sexual misconduct in the jail.

"(The inmate) then told me he had done this before with a deputy several times. He explained to me that it happened when he was in custody in 2010. He described exactly how they got away with it. ... He told me she explained to him about the cameras and mailed him money when he went to prison," Curry wrote in the statement released through a friend.

She didn't name the deputy.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said it is looking into the claim.

"This is a new allegation that we are aware of and we are investigating it," said Sgt. Bob Ray, a sheriff's office spokesman.

No one has been placed on leave, he said.

As a jail services technician, Curry worked alongside a deputy in the control room of Pod 3, the jail's maximum-security unit. The control room, called "the bubble," has windows facing the segregation cellblock. During the deputy's lunch breaks, the inmate would talk with Curry over the intercom.

Their contact began in September 2013 with harmless chatter, she said.

"We'd talk about food, television shows, music, his family and his childhood," she wrote. "I recall telling him that he was a smart kid and full of charisma. I suggested that he should straighten out his life, leave the gang banging behind and put his skills to better use. I felt like I might be able to make a difference in his life."

By March 2014, the inmate became "very charming and charismatic."

"He began talking to me like I was his girlfriend and expressed how much he liked me," she wrote. "He told me how wonderful I was at my job and it was nice to have a helpful and courteous person in the bubble. He would read me poems, sing me songs and show me pictures of his family."

Curry then began opening up about her own life, saying she "wasn't happily married." At the time, Curry was married to a sheriff's deputy; the couple has since divorced.

The inmate consoled her, she said, saying she deserved to be happy.

"(He) obviously sensed that I liked what he was saying because his words went from compliments to sexual innuendos," she wrote.

One day, she said, the inmate stood naked in front of his door and exposed himself to her.

"By this time I was emotionally drawn to him and it felt good to talk to him," she wrote. "I enjoyed the compliments and fun conversations. I'm embarrassed to say this but he made me feel alive, needed, wanted and appreciated. He made me feel like I was good. Most of the time, I felt like I was in a trance. Like there was no reality around me."

In April, she said, she wanted to be around him more and more. All the while, the inmate was asking to have physical contact with her.

A month later, "I thought of nothing but the inmate," she wrote. "His requests and pressure became so frequent and demanding that I finally gave in."

She ended her statement by describing the inmate as a sociopath, who appears charming and believable but is actually manipulative and deceptive. A sociopath, she said, targets the highly empathic and milks their sympathy.

"Being involved with a sociopath is like being brainwashed," she wrote.

Rebecca Woolington of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

-- Emily E. Smith

esmith@oregonian.com

503-294-4032; @emilyesmith