Pittsburg County Jail inmate dies after apparent suicide

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- A man accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl apparently hanged himself with his shoe laces in his jail cell hours after he was arrested in Pittsburg County, officials said.

Carroll Ray Bolien, 35, was found shortly before 1 a.m. Friday in the isolation cell, said Sheriff Steve Burrows. He said the state medical examiner's office in Tulsa would determine the official cause of death.

Bolien was charged Thursday with first-degree rape in connection with the assault of an 11-year-old girl between January 1998 and Wednesday. Bolien's wife, Shirley Gene, is charged with child abuse and failure to protect the girl in connection with the alleged incident.

An affidavit filed in the case alleges Mrs. Bolien had been told of the assaults about a year ago by one of the girl's brothers.

The girl is staying with a relative, said Assistant District Attorney Mike Miller.

Both defendants had appeared in court Thursday and bond was set at $25,000 for Mrs. Bolien and $20,000 for her husband.

Miller said Mrs. Bolien's bond was higher because of alleged statements she made to investigators about a planned trip to Arizona.

The sheriff said jailers last spoke with Bolien about 7 p.m.

Thursday. His body was found hanging from an air return vent in the ceiling of the cell, Burrows said.

Burrows said officers hadn't suspected any kind of problem with Bolien, who had turned himself in.