Former Omaha Corrections employee facing charges of sexually abusing inmate

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A former corrections employee is facing charges of sexually abusing an inmate.

Samantha Cedillo, 31, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Thursday on charges of sexual abuse involving an inmate while she was a programs coordinator at the Omaha Correctional Center.

She appeard in Douglas County Court on Wednesday where she was formally charged with first-degree sexual abuse of an inmate. Her bond was set at $250,000.

The court documents filed Jan. 6 in Douglas County Court alleged that the baby she had recently given birth to was the child of the inmate she is accused of abusing.

She is being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs. Her preliminary hearing is set for the morning of April 10.

According to court documents, confidential informants allegedly began reporting in November 2021 that Cedillo, who wore a gunbelt, was in a relationship with an inmate who was convicted of murder. The two of them would meet in her office in the library of the facility.

Several other alleged incidents were reported or observed by Correctional Center Staff from January to March 2022, including an incident in which the two spent nearly six hours together in Cedillo’s office.

The last alleged incident was on March 30, 2022, in which Cedillo and the inmate were seen on video together in her office. When asked to provide a report on why the inmate was in her office, Cedillo allegedly became angry and submitted her resignation, denying she had any inappropriate relations.

Later in July 2022, a cell phone was allegedly found in the inmate’s cell. Staff attempted to search it but the inmate allegedly broke the device. The SIM card was salvaged from the broken phone and authorities retrieved messages that allegedly detailed his relationship with Cedillo.

The court records also stated during the investigation, Cedillo said she was not married and didn’t have any children, but investigators said they found a baby registry associated with her noting the baby’s expected arrival date as Dec. 18, 2022.

Cedillo gave birth to a child in December 2022 and court records showed that the inmate couldn’t be excluded as the father. A court order was obtained for DNA swabs from the inmate and the infant and they were sent to Nebraska Medical Center for comparison. Another court order was obtained for future swabs from Cedillo for further DNA comparison.

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