A former supervisory correctional officer at the Valdosta State Prison in south Georgia pleaded guilty Thursday to violating the civil rights of two inmates.
According to court documents and admissions, Patrick Sharpe, 30, assaulted a handcuffed inmate in retaliation for an earlier interaction between the inmate and a female officer.
The incident happened on Sept. 24, 2018, while he was escorting the inmate across the prison grounds. Sharpe wrapped a pair of handcuffs around his fist and punched the inmate three times, twice to the inmate’s face and once to the back of his head. The inmate, who was restrained and compliant at the time, briefly lost consciousness and suffered lacerations to his face and head, and
In another incident — this one, on Dec. 29, 2018 — Sharpe instructed his subordinate officers to assault a handcuffed inmate in retaliation for an earlier altercation between that inmate and a different female officer.
Along with several other correctional officers — two of whom have already pleaded guilty to federal crimes in the incident — Sharpe escorted the handcuffed inmate to an outdoor area on the prison grounds. Scott and Ford, carrying out a directive from Sharpe, took the inmate to the ground and struck him multiple times in the body. The inmate was handcuffed and compliant at the time of the assault.
“The defendants committed two retaliatory, injurious, and unjustified assaults while acting as a corrections officer,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
“Law enforcement and correctional officers will be held to the highest standard, as well they should, since they are entrusted with a great degree of authority over the liberty of those they are sworn to protect,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Peter Leary of the Middle District of Georgia.
“Correctional officers at prisons face difficult conditions trying to keep prisons safe for incarcerated felons and staff, but it is never acceptable for them to violate their oath by violently abusing their power,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of the FBI Atlanta field office.
Sharpe faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.
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