Penobscot County corrections officer charged with sexual assault

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff

A now-former Penobscot County Sheriff’s correctional officer is facing criminal charges of sexual assault and tobacco trafficking.

Robert Ireland, 48, of Old Town was arrested Sept. 22 after the authorization of an arrest warrant for two counts of Class B gross sexual assault and one count of Class E trafficking of tobacco in an adult correctional facility.

The sheriff’s office started investigating Sept. 19 after an inmate said a correctional officer was bringing electronic smoking devices and other contraband into the jail. 

Ireland, a probationary employee, was fired within 12 hours of the complaint, the sheriff’s office said. He had “inappropriate contact” with two female inmates and had brought contraband into the facility. 

The sheriff’s office did multiple interviews, reviewed video and phone calls, and searched the jail.  

Ireland was hired July 10 and started working in the cell block Aug. 6. He was taken to the Piscataquis County Jail on Sept. 22.