Correctional facility nurse not guilty of inmate sex assault, jury finds

Ellsworth Correctional Facility

A jury found Jeremy Deppisch not guilty at trial on Sept. 23 of three felony counts of second-degree sexual assault by correctional staff.

The 51-year-old former registered nurse at Ellsworth Correctional Facility in Union Grove Deppisch was charged in 2018. He initially face three additional counts – one felony and two misdemeanors.

According to a criminal complaint, amid an investigation into sexual activity between an inmate at Ellsworth Correctional in Union Grove and an employee, it was learned that Deppisch worked as a registered nurse for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at the facility. Administration officials there had received information Deppisch was involved in a sexual relationship with an inmate.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

That inmate was interviewed, and said that in January of 2018, she was at the Health Services Unit at the facility for treatment of "cat scratches." While there, she said there was sexual activity between her and Deppisch – noting three separate encounters in treatment rooms in January. She said on at least one occasion, there was another nurse in the Health Services Unit. She said at one point, Deppisch gave her a "blister pack" of antibiotic "so she would have something to take back to her housing unit" after she was called down to the Health Services Unit to meet with him.

That blister pack was recovered from her cell, and the complaint says it contained handwriting indicating that it was prescribed to her by a doctor who was out of the country when it was alleged to have been prescribed. A review of the inmate's medical records did not show any prescription for the antibiotic.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

The complaint says investigators spoke with another inmate who said the inmate allegedly involved in the sexual relationship with Deppisch told her about it.

The complaint further notes that investigators took a look at electronic Health Services Unit records, which revealed there were only two visits by this inmate in January – on Jan. 5, 2018 and Jan. 18, 2018. Visits on the three dates the inmate claimed to have had sexual relations with Deppisch were not found in the records.

Featured

Milwaukee man accused in infant death due to 'acute drug toxicity'

A 24-year-old Milwaukee man is charged in the death of an infant in August.

Featured

Jacob Blake shooting: Federal officials will not charge Kenosha police officer

Federal criminal civil rights charges will not be presented against Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey for his involvement in the August 2020 shooting of Jacob Blake, the United States Justice Department announced Friday.