MADISON - Monroe County insurers have agreed to pay $750,000 to a woman who accused a jailer of sexual abuse in 2002, according to her attorney.

The settlement Monday in the federal lawsuit is the third in recent years involving inmates with mental health conditions who claimed they were abused or neglected while in the Monroe County Jail, said attorney Michael Devanie.

The Tomah woman had been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder before she was jailed in 2002 awaiting trial on a charge of felony battery to a police officer. While in jail, former night shift supervisor Lt. David Schaldach repeatedly had her perform a sex act on him, according to the suit.

Schaldach knew the woman was in a vulnerable mental condition, as a jail nurse had recommended she be on suicide watch after she lost custody of her children due to being jailed, according to court documents.

The county in February 2007 had settled another lawsuit involving Schaldach brought on behalf of Brenda Mombourquette, for a guaranteed $6.1 million that could increase to

$13 million if Mombourquette reaches her maximum life expectancy, Devanie said.

The lawsuit claimed Mombourquette reported Schaldach's activities with the other inmate. After he found out, Devanie said, Schaldach failed to put Mombourquette on suicide watch despite doctor's orders in November 2002. She was found hanging from a sheet in her jail cell four days later, leaving her with permanent brain damage and requiring full-time care.

Schaldach, 62, of Warrens, was allowed to retire but later pleaded no contest to misconduct in public office in the Tomah woman's case. He was sentenced in July 2008 to 1½ years in prison.

The woman languished between jail and the Winnebago Mental Health Institute for two years before being found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect on the felony battery charge. She was under psychiatric care and receiving psychotropic medications while in jail, but Schaldach made threats to further harm her if she revealed their sexual activity, according to court documents.

Former Sheriff Chuck Amundson and former Undersheriff John Cram were told about Schaldach's conduct but chose to protect him, said Devanie.

The third suit involved a $2.2 million settlement to Scott Lawson, who was arrested while hitchhiking near Tomah in the 1990s. Lawson, a schizophrenic, needed two years of psychiatric treatment at the Winnebago facility after being incarcerated in Monroe County for two months without his medication, said Devanie.

Calls to Monroe County Sheriff Dennis Pedersen, County Corporation Counsel Kelly Sullivan Flock and County Administrator Catherine Schmitt were not returned.