NEWPORT — A former Arkansas prison chaplain has been released on bond after surrendering to be charged with 50 counts of sexual assault.
Jackson County sheriff's office employees said Dewitt turned himself in early Monday morning and was released on $30,000 bond after seeing a judge. The prosecuting attorney's office filed charges against 66-year-old Dewitt on Thursday.
Prosecutors allege he coerced three inmates at the McPherson's women's prison in Newport, 90 miles northeast of Little Rock, into having sexual relationships with him, telling one inmate no one would believe her if she told authorities.
Jeff Rosenzweig, Dewitt's attorney, says he made arrangements with the prosecutor to surrender at the jail and followed through on those arrangements.
A separate federal investigation into complaints of sexual harassment at McPherson is ongoing.