Sep. 14—CLARK COUNTY — A tentative settlement agreement has been reached in the federal lawsuits brought by female inmates, some of whom claimed they were sexually assaulted and attacked by male inmates inside of the Clark County jail.
Attorneys for the defendants filed the notice of settlement Wednesday in the Southern District of Indiana U.S. District Court in New Albany. No details of the settlement are included in the court filings. Attorneys ask the court to “withhold ruling on all pending motions and stay all pending deadlines during the period of time necessary to conclude the matter.”
The combined cases stem from an alleged incident that occurred in October 2021. Former Clark County jailer David J. Lowe is accused of selling an access key fob to two male inmates for $1,000. Lowe is facing a felony criminal charge in the case, and is scheduled for a January trial in Clark County.
The civil cases initially involved 28 female inmates in multiple lawsuits, some of whom claimed they were raped and sexually assaulted after male inmates entered the female pod areas of the jail with the access key.
Along with Lowe, former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel and current Sheriff Scottie Maples were named in the civil lawsuits due to their capacities as managers of the jail.