Jailhouse romance gets attorney banned

Published 1:13 pm Tuesday, March 5, 2013

An attorney has been banned from the local jail after she had a sexual encounter with an inmate in the visitation room, court officials said.

Lisa Traylor-Wolff, who is also a senior judge, and the male defendant were seen last summer “engaged in excessive fondling with intent to sexually gratify over the clothing,” according to a statement from the Indiana Supreme Court.

Records state that Traylor-Wolff and Scott Wampler, 26, had been involved in a romantic relation since earlier in 2012. She had defended Wampler in a case dating back to 2011.

Lawyers can meet their clients in a monitored visitation room, but they also have access to a side room that has less outside visibility. The facilities rules outline that visitors are allowed a “brief hug and a kiss” at the beginning and end of the visit as well as hand-holding, according to a jail spokesperson.

“Otherwise they’re in violation of the facility rules.”

She could face penalties ranging from a public reprimand to losing her law license or being permanently banned from holding judicial office in Indiana.

Details for this story were provided by the Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune.