A state probation officer accused of taking sex and cash from a woman in exchange for favorable probation reports had sex with her in isolated areas of the Nesbett Courthouse for more than a year before being reported, according to documents filed in court today.
James Stanton, 53, was arrested Tuesday on charges of accepting a bribe and official misconduct after undercover police officers sent the alleged victim in to a meeting with him in his office at the Nesbett on Tuesday wearing a wire, the court documents say.
Stanton works in the state Department of Health and Social Service's Alcohol Safety Action Program, a treatment program often court-ordered for probationers. He is accused of certifying that the woman's court-ordered drug and alcohol urinalysis results came back clean, though the woman admits she was using, police said. Failure to deliver a clean drug or alcohol result in the periodic tests can result in jail time.
The woman is on felony probation in therapeutic court -- a volunteer program for those who want to get clean -- but is identified in court documents only as Jane Doe.
Police say she initially began giving Stanton money -- "hundreds of dollars" -- in December 2008 to ignore positive drug test results or not report probation violations.
By last January, the woman didn't have enough to pay and began performing oral sex on him, according to an affidavit filed in court by Assistant District Attorney Dan Shorey. She later had sex with Stanton in the therapeutic court offices in the Nesbett and in a boiler room in an underground tunnel that connects that building to the next-door Boney Courthouse, he wrote.
In the conversation recorded Tuesday at the courthouse, the woman, who is wearing an arm brace, told Stanton she hurt her arm driving drunk on a snowmachine in her home village, a violation of her probation. Stanton laughed at the news, according to Shorey's affidavit.
At the time, the woman delivered $200 in marked bills as a payoff to Stanton, who accepted the money as they talked about her not being off drugs and alcohol, the affidavit says. The two also discussed their past sexual encounters and whether Stanton had been taking his Viagra, according to the documents. When the woman asked if he needed it, Stanton replied, "not with you," according to Shorey's affidavit.
They then walked down to a conference room, where Stanton allegedly unbuttoned the woman's shirt and touched her breast, the affidavit says. When the woman said she no longer wanted to have sex, and only pay him the cash, Stanton replied, "I don't need any more money," Shorey wrote. The woman left and police arrested Stanton.
Stanton, who is jailed with bail set at $10,000, made an initial appearance in Anchorage jail court this afternoon. Stanton said nothing, but his attorney, Michael Moberly, seeking to reduce a third-party custodian bail requirement, characterized the crime as a "victimless" public administration violation.
District Court Judge Gregory Motyka set a bail hearing for Thursday morning to decide whether Stanton could be released with an electronic monitoring device.
Moberly declined to comment after the hearing.
According to court records, Stanton has no criminal history in Alaska.
Police say they suspect there may be other victims. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 786-8900.
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