Crime & Safety

Stillwater Prison Worker Charged After Engaging In A Sexual Relationship With An Inmate

The certified medical assistant told detectives she had sex with the inmate in a prison exam room while a nursing intern stood lookout.

A certified medical assistant at Stillwater prison was allegedly involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with an inmate with the goal of becoming pregnant—while a nursing intern stood guard.

After several sexual encounters, court documents state Yvonne Noemi Lerro-Miller became pregnant with the inmate’s unborn baby.

Lerro-Miller, 37, of Osceola, Wis. was charged May 10 in Washington County District Court with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. She has since been terminated from her position at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Stillwater.

Find out what's happening in Stillwaterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

An investigation into the alleged sexual relationship between Lerro-Miller and the inmate began in September 2010 when corrections staff started monitoring her movements, contacts within the facility and phone calls—which led detectives to believe she was having a sexual relationship with the 32-year-old inmate who was not named in court documents.

Phone calls between Lerro-Miller and the inmate allegedly revealed that Lerro-Miller was pregnant with the inmate’s baby. A search of the inmate’s prison cell turned up photos and letters from Lerro-Miller, as well as an ultrasound photo of a fetus, the complaint states.

Find out what's happening in Stillwaterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Dec. 14, the Bayport Police Department’s police chief received information that Lerro-Miller had suffered a miscarriage, the complaint states. The police chief obtained DNA samples from Lerro-Miller, the fetus and the inmate, which were sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis—and eventually revealed that the inmate was the father of the Lerro-Miller’s unborn child.

In a statement to police, Lerro-Miller admitted to an ongoing sexual relationship with the inmate.

She told detectives her and the inmate had sex in exam room three while the nursing intern was at the nurses station and would cough or sometimes come into the room and say that there was another patient waiting. Lerro-Miller also told police the inmate gave her a container of semen and she inserted it into her vagina with a syringe.

Lerro-Miller told detectives that the inmate started pursuing her on Valentine’s Day 2010, but the relationship didn’t begin for another six months. Lerro-Miller told detectives when she began working at the prison she received training about relationships with offenders and understood that as an employee of the prison she was in a position of authority and it was against the law for employees to engage in sexual relationships with them.

“You never think it's going to happen to you," Lerro-Miller told police regarding the relationship. "When you first start you go to the academy and that's where they spend the most time on it and they give examples of things they have seen in the past."

The inmate refused to discuss his relationship with Lerro-Miller, the complaint states. The nursing intern denied knowing anything about the sexual relationship. She also told detectives she didn’t act as a lookout for Lerro-Miller while she was alone with the inmate and never saw Lerro-Miller acting overly friendly toward any offender.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.