2nd Officer Charged in Sex Scandal
Both Women Accused of Misconduct With Same Man on House Arrest

By Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 17, 2007

A second Prince William County corrections officer has been charged with having sexual relations with a male inmate while he was on house arrest -- the same inmate involved in the first officer's arrest, police said yesterday.

Tamara Fay Bonos, 32, of Manassas was charged Wednesday with having carnal knowledge of an inmate, a felony, county police said. Bonos was an entry-level officer who worked at the main building of the regional jail for 18 months, said the jail's superintendent, Col. Charles "Skip" Land. Bonos resigned shortly after being placed on administrative leave.

Maria C. Torres-Corbin, 48, a master jail officer with nearly 20 years' experience, was arrested Friday. She had recently been assigned to the work-release center, where she was responsible for checking on inmates in the electronic-monitoring program. Torres-Corbin also resigned.

"There is no indication that Torres-Corbin or Bonos knew about each other," Land said. "They just happened to be doing something with the same inmate."

The corrections officers were off duty when the incidents occurred, police said. The inmate was held in the county jail before he was put on work release and then on electronic monitoring while at home, police said.

"It was consensual," Land said, "but if you read the code, the female officers had custodial rights over him. . . . Therein lies the problem."

Police declined to say how many times the officers are accused of meeting with the inmate, but they did say the investigation covers the year before Aug. 10, when jail officials first contacted police. After interviews with police, the women were charged.

Jail and work release officials will review policy and procedures, said Land, who described the past week as "rough."

"I have two staff out of 270 that made some extremely poor decisions. . . . They took an oath, and the 268 staff left, a lot of them feel like they have been betrayed," Land said. "And I can't say I blame them."

Bonos was being held in lieu of $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 4. If convicted, she faces up to five years in jail, police said.