By Steve Barnes

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - A former Arkansas prison chaplain was charged on Thursday with 50 counts of sexual assault on suspicion of pressuring three inmates at a women's state prison into providing him sexual favors, authorities said.

Kenneth Dewitt, 67, was charged in state court with using a position of trust or authority to sexually abuse the women. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, they said.

The activity is suspected to have occurred in Dewitt's office at the Newport prison, about 90 miles northeast of Little Rock, over 21 months ending in September 2014, according to an investigator’s affidavit attached to the charges.

An attorney for Dewitt was not immediately available for comment.

One of the female inmates described herself in the affidavit as intimidated and shocked by Dewitt’s demands, and “thought very seriously about suicide.”

Two of the women named are serving life sentences for capital murder. A third has been released after serving a prison sentence for drug offenses.

Dewitt was fired last year after allegedly engaging in a relationship with a female chaplain, who was formerly an inmate. The state prison department barred him from the premises and from future employment.

Prosecuting attorney Henry Boyce said Dewitt’s attorney had assured him the defendant would promptly surrender on the charges but was unaware if he had done so.

The Arkansas Department of Corrections said on Thursday it had alerted state police in December when it learned of the allegations and said it had “zero tolerance” for any sexual contact between staff and inmates.





(Reporting by Steve Barnes; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by James Dalgleish)