Angola employees arrested in separate investigations; one accused of raping a minor
ANGOLA - A pair of Angola prison employees were arrested this past week after two separate investigations into allegations of misconduct on the state penitentiary's property.
Both were booked Thursday, Feb. 16, but officials would not announce the arrests for days and ignored repeated requests for information over the weekend.
The Department of Corrections first confirmed the arrests Monday but would not release further details on the allegations at that time. The department instead directed questions about the case to the West Feliciana Sheriff's Office, which said it would not release information on the investigations until Wednesday morning.
One of the workers, 34-year-old Kirk Templeton, is accused in a rape investigation involving a minor and was reported by the victim's family. He is currently on administrative leave pending the investigation.
The second employee, 36-year-old Jacob Lee Irwin, is accused of attacking two of his children with an "edged weapon" after getting into an argument with his family. DOC described him as a "probationary employee" and said he has been fired.
Both crimes happened at residences on the Angola property, but the cases were not related, Sheriff Brian Spillman said in a statement.
Read the statement from Department of Corrections below.
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"Both of these alleged crimes were investigated by the West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office, who also made the arrests. As such, all booking and arrest information should come from the West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office. While these alleged incidents did not occur while these individuals were on duty, they were alleged to have happened at the B Line employee residential area of Louisiana State Penitentiary. The Department of Corrections takes these allegations very seriously. As such, Kirk Templeton is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case. Because Jacob Lee Irwin is a probationary employee, the Department of Corrections has separated his employment."