YOUNGSTOWN — Kim Harbison, 61, avoided an arraignment hearing Tuesday on a charge accusing her of having engaged in sexual conduct with an inmate at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on Hubbard Road.

Harbison, of Chidester Drive in Canfield, worked at the prison at the time of the alleged incident but has since been terminated. She entered a written not guilty plea Friday and did not have to appear for her scheduled arraignment in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Tuesday.

The offense, called sexual battery, is alleged to have occurred in June.

She did appear for a bond hearing on Thursday where bond of $15,000 was set. Afterward, she was booked at the Mahoning County jail and released.

At the Nov. 21 hearing, Magistrate Nicole Alexander also ordered Harbison to have no contact with the inmate.

If convicted, Harbison could get about three years in prison.

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