CAMDEN — A female corrections officer at the low-security federal prison at Fort Dix has been charged with sexually abusing a male inmate, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said Wednesday, July 29.
Jordan Pensak, 27, who resides in Middlesex County, is charged with one count of sexual abuse of an individual in federal custody. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
In an affidavit filed in federal court in Camden, Pensak is accused of engaging in a consensual but improper sexual relationship with the unidentified inmate shortly after she was assigned to his unit in April 2024. Investigators allege the pair had sex multiple times inside a prison office. To avoid detection, Pensak and the inmate paid other prisoners to serve as lookouts and alert them if other corrections officers approached.
The relationship was uncovered following the seizure of two contraband cell phones from inmates at the facility in late 2025. The devices contained more than 100 sexually explicit photos and videos of Pensak and the inmate, as well as numerous messages exchanged over Instagram.
In graphic text messages obtained by the FBI, Pensak admitted to the relationship to multiple individuals, including other inmates and family members of the prisoner.
During one exchange — documented in the charging document — with an individual believed to be a former inmate in late January 2026, Pensak expressed alarm over a potential pregnancy: "Im 3 days late for my period you ready to be an uncle?" Pensak wrote. She then noted how a pregnancy could complicate an ongoing federal Bureau of Prisons investigation into her conduct, writing: "That aint good for this investigation. If the baby black and my husband white and Korean?!"
The complaint noted that the inmate involved in the relationship is "African-American."
Pensak later told a contact she had taken an emergency contraceptive pill shortly after a Jan. 8 encounter with the inmate. The complaint details other severe alleged breaches of protocol, including a text message where Pensak admitted that she and the inmate "got (expletive) up at work, high (as expletive)."
Pensak texted another inmate about the investigation into her conduct that "they can't prove nothing" and theorizing that if she quit her job, the investigation might end.
The probe was conducted by special agents of the FBI and the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Pensak made her initial court appearance on Tuesday, July 28, before Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal in federal court in Camden.
She was released on bail. The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph McFarlane.
Pensak is represented by defense attorney Mark Catanzaro, whose office is in Mount Holly.
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Fort Dix female prison guard charged with sexually abusing male inmate