In 2011, Jamyi J. Witch, a Pagan prison chaplain, was accused of conspiring to create a hostage situation, on top of trafficking drugs, that would result in a transfer for herself and another inmate. An investigation was initiated when the inmate alleged that on August 10, he, as per Witch’s plan, left his cell, went to her office, and “blocked the door with a board from a bookshelf.” He claimed that he then requested that she have sex with him, which she agreed to, and that Witch “discussed giving him pills to make him sleepy.”
Those charges have been dismissed entirely as of August 26th, 2013, clearing Witch’s name.
During initial reporting on the investigation, a Department of Corrections spokesman said that Witch’s office had been under observation the whole time, and later the WTAQ reported that Witch had been on medical leave during the time the alleged victim claimed Witch had told him of her plan. The drugs she was purportedly trafficking were in fact pain pills she had a prescription for.
When she learned that the charges were dismissed on the morning of August 26, Witch posted a statement to Facebook, saying that: “I am very proud of my years of service. I was the first Pagan Priestess hired by any city, county, state, and federal levels to be named as a Chaplain. Sadly, to the best of my knowledge I continue to be the only one. […] They also charged me with sexually assaulting my rapist. This is the hardest to deal with. Every time I went to Court, John Washington, the man who raped me was called the victim.”
Witch believes that Scott Walker may well have had something to do with smearing her name due to the Wisconsin governor’s campaign to get her fired from her position immediately after she’d been hired back in 2001-02. However, her supposition cannot be confirmed as many Wisconsin residents seem to have been offended by her appointment.