Former sheriff’s deputy sentenced for sex crime

A former Dane County deputy was sentenced to jail time for having a sexual relationship with a female inmate.

Jeff Hilgers was found guilty of second-degree sexual assault in June for having a relationship with an inmate who was on bail monitoring in 2013 while he was a Dane County sheriff’s deputy, officials said. He reportedly married her in October.

He was sentenced Tuesday to 120 days in jail with no probation.

The criminal complaint said Hilgers was the deputy assigned to the Dane County Jail unit where a 43-year-old Madison woman was an inmate. The woman was released from jail but was on an electronic-monitoring program when she and Hilgers allegedly began a sexual relationship after seeing each other in a grocery store. The woman was an inmate during six weeks of the alleged relationship.

He was also facing seven counts of child pornography because during the investigation, officers found images of child pornography on computers in Hilgers’ home, according to a criminal complaint. There were 44 files that reportedly contained child pornography.

Those seven counts of child porn were dismissed in January.

Hilgers resigned before an administrative hearing scheduled for Aug. 14, 2013, Dane County officials said.