Jordan Pensak, a 27-year-old corrections officer from Middlesex County, was charged with one count of sexual abuse of an individual in federal custody after prosecutors said she had a sexual relationship with an inmate at Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix. Pensak made her first court appearance on July 28 before Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal in Camden and was released on bail.
Robert Frazer filed the criminal complaint, which says the relationship included sexual intercourse in January 2026. Pensak now faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Fort Dix and the complaint
Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix is a low-security prison in Burlington County, and the complaint places the alleged misconduct inside that setting. Prosecutors said Pensak worked there as a corrections officer, which put her in direct contact with an inmate already in federal custody.
The case moved from allegation to court action on July 28, when Pensak appeared before Elizabeth A. Pascal in Camden. Her release on bail means she remains under court supervision while the charge proceeds.
Messages and contraband phones
The complaint also says the inmate used two contraband cell phones to communicate with Pensak while in custody. Prosecutors said the two exchanged sexually explicit images and messages through social media and other electronic applications, and that Pensak confessed to the affair in text messages sent to several persons, including the inmate's family members.
One message went further: Pensak said she was concerned about her possible pregnancy with the inmate's child. In practical terms, that shifts the case from a private relationship allegation to evidence prosecutors can use to show knowledge, contact, and the alleged scope of the conduct inside the prison.
Consent under federal law
Pensak is described in the complaint as having a consensual sexual relationship with the inmate, but federal law provides no defense of consent in such cases. That leaves the legal fight centered on the custodial relationship itself, not on whether the inmate agreed.
Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy of the FBI and Special Agent in Charge Timothy Edminston of the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph McFarlane of the Special Prosecutions Division is prosecuting it. For Pensak, the next step is the criminal case itself, with the charge, the bail conditions, and the prison messages all now part of the record before the court.
