Chautauqua County is asking a state Supreme Court judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former inmate who claims to have been sexually abused by a corrections officer.

In late November, the county filed its answers to a 21-page complaint by a woman who had been jailed in or around 1996. The former inmate of the Chautauqua County Jail claims she was sexually abused on about 20 occasions by Jeffrey Swan, a longtime corrections officer with the Sheriff’s Office who resigned in April 2014 after he was indicted on charges he had sexual contact with a female inmate. Swan later pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree criminal sex act and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

In February 2016, the county reached a financial settlement with two individuals who claimed Swan sexually abused them while inmates at the Mayville jail. During an emergency county Legislature meeting, lawmakers approved $75,000 settlements to each woman, both of whom were involved in a civil rights lawsuit in New York Western District Court.

In its response this past November, the county said it “exercised due care with respect to its activities, took reasonable precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions of others, and acted in accordance with applicable and valid procedures, policies, standards, laws and regulations.”

Further, the county stated in its response, “If the County is found liable for the damages sustained by Plaintiff, any liability shall be limited to its equitable share of total liability.”

The woman’s lawsuit, one of three filed the same day in October under the Adult Survivors Act, names Chautauqua County, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office and the Chautauqua County Jail as defendants. The former corrections officer was not included in the suit.

In her filing, the woman states the county “ignored multiple red flags and warnings that CO Swan was perpetrating sexual abuse against inmates.”

“Despite such actual and/or constructive notice, Defendants enabled the sexual abuse of Plaintiff by allowing SO Swan to have unfettered and unsupervised access to Plaintiff and thereby giving CO Swan the opportunity to commit the foreseeable sexual abuse against Plaintiff,” the complaint states.

The woman is seeking $25 million in damages for her “past and future suffering, injuries and expenses.” She is being represented by a New York City law firm.

In its response, the county has asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss the woman’s complaint and to reduce damages, if any, in “proportion with the culpable conduct” of others.

No answers for the two remaining lawsuits have been filed.

All three women say their abuse occurred at the hands of Swan. Two said the abuse occurred in the mid-’90s, while the third states the abuse took place in the fall of 2013.

The three suits fall under the Adult Survivors Act. The legislation, enacted in May 2022, has allowed alleged victims of sexual abuse for which the statute of limitations has lapsed to file civil suits for a one-year period ending Nov. 24, 2023.

None of the women are being identified by The Post-Journal because they claim to be the victims of sexual abuse.