HENRY COUNTY — A man is suing Henry County and claiming a Community Corrections officer assigned to monitor his home detention coerced him into performing sex acts and got him hooked on methamphetamines.
In a federal lawsuit filed electronically on Sunday, the man claims he was sexually assaulted in January 2018 by Jason Eric Bertram, who at the time was deputy director of Henry County Community Corrections.
"(The man) was in custody or under supervision at various times between 2018 and 2023 in Henry County," attorney Jon Little told WRTV. "During those times, he was forced to perform sexual acts to stay out of trouble with the system in Henry County."
In his suit, the man — at the time a cocaine addict — claims he visited Bertram two more times over the course of his 90-day home detention sentence. On both subsequent visits, The man claims that Betram gave him methamphetamine.
WRTV is not naming the man because he is an alleged victim of sexual assault.
"He was sexually exploited and fed methamphetamines, which he had not really been involved with before," Little said. "Now, he's got to deal with the traumas of his rapes and a new drug addiction as a result of community corrections."
Little said the man reported the abuse over the ensuing months, but officials waited years to act.
"All of this was recorded on video and given to law enforcement in Henry County in 2021 after years of (the man) complaining about it," Little told WRTV.
In January 2022 — four years after the man's alleged assault during his initial visit to the Community Corrections office in New Castle — the lawsuit claims Henry County officials fired Bertram.
In January 2023, the suit alleges that Henry County prosecutors formally charged Bertram in connection with crimes involving the man and three other men Bertram was assigned to supervise.
Soon after charges were filed, Bertram killed himself.
"The criminal case obviously went away (with Bertram's suicide), but my client and I know that there's more people in his position in Henry County who have not received any kind of adjudication or even acknowledgment from Henry County that this was going on," Little said. "Henry County allowed Mr. Bertram to exploit these vulnerable inmates for years."
Little provided WRTV with a copy of court documents showing prosecutors charged Bertram with official misconduct, sexual misconduct, battery and making an unlawful proposition.
Online court records currently show no record of those charges being filed against Bertram.
Instead of trying to find other victims, the lawsuit alleges officials covered up the incident by never issuing a press release or taking any action to inform the public of Bertram's arrest.
"Defendants further benefited from their cover-up of Bertram’s crimes by avoiding the negative publicity, civil liability, and increased insurance costs associated with those crimes for long after they knew or should have known of Bertram’s misconduct," the lawsuit alleged.
Defendants named in the lawsuit are Community Corrections Executive Director Joni Williams, Henry County Sheriff John Sproles and New Castle Police Sgt. Chase Hightower.
WRTV reached out to Williams, Sproles and Hightower on Monday.
Sproles said in an email that he can't comment on pending litigation. New Castle Police Chief Matt Schofield was contacted by phone and said he can't comment on the pending lawsuit.
Williams, also reached by phone, declined to comment and referred WRTV to Henry County attorney Joel Harvey. WRTV left a message for Harvey at his law office.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana and seeks unspecified compensatory, punitive and other damages.
WRTV requested an interview with the man who filed the suit, but Little said he was not available.
Records show the man is currently on probation for methamphetamine dealing in Henry County. His probation is being supervised in Madison County, records show.
Little says the man still struggles with addiction and the emotional trauma caused by the alleged assault.
"He was far better off in 2017, emotionally and mentally and physically, than he is in 2024," Little said. "And that's the fault of Community Corrections in Henry County."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on X/Twitter: @vicryc.
