Sheriff is said to operate sex-slave ring

Authorities have charged Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess with coercing and bribing female inmates so he could use them in a sex-slave operation run out of his jail.

Burgess resigned after state prosecutors filed 35 felony charges against him, including 14 counts of second-degree rape, seven counts of forcible oral sodomy and five counts of bribery by a public official.

Burgess, the top officer in the county of 26,000 since 1994, appeared in court to face the charges and was released after posting $50,000 bail. His attorney, Steve Huddleston, said that “Mr. Burgess is anxious to . . . clear his name.”