Sedgwick County approves $375K settlement to women in jail sex case

Sedgwick County commissioners approved a $375,000 settlement to two women a then-jail deputy had sex with while working, records show.

The payments would be $200,000 to one woman and $175,000 to another, according to the commission agenda.

The incidents happened on July 17, 2022.

“As part of the agreed settlements, Sedgwick County asserts that all claims are without merit but has resolved to settle to avoid significant defense costs, expenses, and risk of litigation,” a release by the county sheriff’s office read.

Dustin Troy Burnett, who worked at the Sedgwick County Jail from January 2022 until his firing in July 2022, was sentenced in March 2023 to prison. He was given a five-year, eight-month sentence in connection to the sex with the inmates and ignoring others who vandalized and trafficked contraband into the jail.

He was in his early 20s when he was sentenced.

Security cameras in the jail pod recorded Burnett in the inmate cell for 9 minutes, 21 seconds, starting at 8:13 a.m. on July 17, 2022, according to the arrest affidavit.

Burnett walked into the cell and asked two women there “who’s gonna do it first,” which the inmates took to mean a sexual act, the document says.

He returned later, at 2:31 p.m., and was inside for 4 minutes, 27 seconds, according to an arrest affidavit released in the case, the document said. He then told one of the women to go shower.

When the two women later went to the deputy’s booth for tampons and razors, he apologized and showed them a photo of his loved ones, according to the lawsuits.

At least one of the victimized women told a detective she “did not feel like she could say no” when Burnett asked for sex because he was “in uniform and in a position of power over them as the pod deputy,” the affidavit says.

In Kansas, it’s illegal for jail workers and others with authority over inmates to have sexual or romantic relationships with them, regardless of age or consent.

“This resolution allowed both women to be heard, and to begin the process of healing and closure,” said Matt Dwyer, attorney for the plaintiffs. “While no monetary figure can erase their trauma, this outcome acknowledges the courage it took to come forward.”

Burnett’s sexual acts with the inmates were discovered when deputies were investigating a separate incident of contraband being brought into the jail.

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker with The Eagle

This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 4:01 PM.