State police arrested a third state correction officer Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the sexual assault of an inmate at York Correctional Institution in Niantic.

Kareem Dawson, 34, turned himself in to state police in Montville to face one count of second-degree sexual assault.

The warrant for his arrest was the result of a monthslong investigation by detectives with the Eastern District Major Crime Unit following a complaint by a 28-year-old former inmate.

Police said they were assisted in the investigation by the state Department of Correction Intelligence Unit.

State police previously arrested correction officers Jeffrey Bromley, 47, of Niantic and Matthew Gillette, 44, of Groton, both of whom worked in the same unit at York. Both have since been fired, according to a DOC spokesman.

Bromley and Gillette are accused of having a sexual relationship with a 28-year-old female inmate.

The alleged victim reported to correction officials in November 2014 that while housed in the Davis building, a housing unit for participants of a drug treatment program, she had sexual contact with three different officers between August 2014 and October 2014.

She said she was concerned she was pregnant, according to court documents. Tests showed the woman was not pregnant.

"When she began these sexual acts with the correctional officers she believed it was consensual," according to the affidavit in the Gillette case. "However, she would think to herself that if she no longer continued with the sex acts that these correctional officers have physical control over her in the facility and there may be repercussions."

State law prohibits correction officers from engaging in sexual relations with inmates.

The three correction officers were reassigned to different facilities during the state police investigation. The unidentified inmate has since been released on parole.

A DOC spokesman said Tuesday that Dawson will be placed on administrative leave on Thursday, his next scheduled work day.

Details on the allegations against Dawson were not immediately available. Free on a $25,000 court-set bond, Dawson is due to appear July 16 in New London Superior Court.

g.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay