A 32-year-old former inmate at the Blount County Jail says she was groomed for months for sexual involvement with a jailer and became a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.

The allegations are among many in a federal lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Birmingham against ex-correctional officer Daniel Kelsoe, 39, and Sheriff Mark Moon.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Martin Weinberg on behalf of the Jefferson County woman.

The suit claims Kelsoe extended extra privileges to the inmate, and that “she believed she was in a loving relationship.”

Moon said the sheriff’s office does not comment on pending lawsuits. A trial date has not yet been set for Kelsoe’s criminal charges.

Kelsoe was indicted in March on two counts of custodial sexual contact.

The investigation began when claims were made that Kelsoe was sexually involved with at least two female inmates and possibly a third.

In Alabama, an inmate cannot legally consent to sex with a jailer.

Kelsoe was hired as a corrections officer in April 2022, and Moon said he passed all hiring requirements including a background check and a polygraph test. He underwent jail training.

He later admitted to the sexual involvement, Moon said, and was fired.

Weinberg said the inmate who filed the lawsuit was a non-violent offender and the victim of numerous assaults by Kelsoe. He said the assaults happened from the fall of 2022 through March of 2023.

Kelsoe had unfettered access to the inmate, the suit said, and corresponded with her via handwritten notes.

The inmate even tattooed Kelsoe’s name on her leg, which was visible, and was disciplined for doing so.

She said she was placed in solitary confinement, which she believes was to keep her from talking to anyone else about what happened.

She said she was denied basic services and contracted Covid from the unsanitary conditions. She also developed Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B that she believes was from the sexual contact with Kelsoe.

The lawsuit said the inmate was also beat up by other inmates because they believed she was a “snitch” based on her relationship with the corrections officer.

Another Blount County sheriff’s jailer was also recently arrested and fired amid allegations he had sex with a female inmate.

Last week, 26-year-old Blount County corrections officer Garrett Law was arrested on a charge of custodial sexual misconduct and immediately fired as well.

Weinberg said the two incidents show systemic failures in the control that authorities have over the jail.