BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a former guard at an Alabama women’s prison to 1½ years behind bars for having sexual contact with an inmate and lying about it while he worked there.

U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, in a news release, says U.S. District Judge Virginia E. Hopkins sentenced 28-year-old Jesse Bailey, of Carrolton, Alabama, Tuesday on one count each of abusive sexual contact and making false statements to the government. Bailey pleaded guilty in December.

Bailey worked as a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institution at Aliceville from January 2015 to August 2016.

In January 2016, Bailey was assigned to the prison dorm where the victim was housed and soon began a flirtation with her that resulted in the sexual act inside a staff bathroom.