“Craigslist killer” Miranda Barbour,

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

A former Institutional Parole Agent assigned to the State Correctional Institution at Muncy carried on a months-long sexual relationship — described in a lawsuit as near-daily sexual abuse — with “Craigslist killer” Miranda Barbour, prosecutors announced on Tuesday, Aug. 5. He was sentenced to 11½ months to two years minus a day in prison.

Kenneth E. Jones, 30, of Lewisburg, pleaded guilty in May to 18 felony counts of institutional sexual assault.

Judge Ryan M. Tira also ordered Jones to serve three years of probation, register as a sex offender under SORNA for 15 years, have no contact with the victim, provide a DNA sample, and pay the costs of prosecution. At Jones’ request, and without objection from prosecutors, he was granted permission to have contact with his minor child.

The investigation began in March 2024 when Barbour told a prison security captain that Jones had been stalking her and disclosed the relationship. Jones — who called it “unfortunate” it became sexual — admitted to investigators in April 2024 that the two had engaged in sexual activity in his office.

Barbour, who is serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Troy LaFerrara in Sunbury, told authorities the two began flirting after she was assigned to clean Jones’ office in January 2023. She said they kissed by June, followed by regular sexual encounters — more than 100 instances of intercourse and over 40 instances of oral sex. Jones’ account downplayed the frequency, claiming intercourse occurred four times and oral sex eight times.

In a federal lawsuit filed in March, Barbour alleged the abuse was “near daily” for several months in 2023, often with Jones’ office door open while other staff were nearby. She claimed Jones illegally accessed her confidential medical and mental health records, using the information to manipulate and intimidate her, and that staff repeatedly failed to intervene despite her attempts to report the abuse.

Barbour’s complaint, filed by the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, alleges that other SCI Muncy employees — including PREA compliance staff and security officers — ignored red flags, walked past Jones’ office while she was inside, and failed to act even after she requested to be reassigned away from him. She said Jones harassed her after the relationship ended, continued stalking her, and used prison communication systems to send her repeated messages.

The Department of Corrections has stated Jones acted outside the scope of his employment and that it does not condone his actions. The civil case is ongoing, with Barbour seeking compensatory and punitive damages for alleged violations of her constitutional rights, sexual abuse, harassment, stalking, and invasion of privacy.

Just one day after Jones’ guilty plea, another Pennsylvania prison staff case made headlines — former SCI Forest corrections officer Kristina Miller was charged in a sex and identity theft scheme involving inmates. Read that full story here.