TRENTON — Two veteran corrections officers have been charged in connection with the beating of an inmate at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, the Mercer County prosecutor announced today.
Authorities said Sgt. Kevin Newsom, 45, of Ewing hit the handcuffed inmate in the head several times with a metal baton on July 13. Afterward, he allegedly instructed his subordinates to whitewash the incident in their reports.
Another officer, Lt. Stephen Alaimo, 41, of Cliffwood, did not report the assault, authorities said.
Newsom, an officer for 23 years, was charged with aggravated assault and official misconduct on Oct. 29, and he is free on $50,000 bail. He has been suspended without pay as the state Department of Corrections moves to fire him, spokesman Matt Schuman said.
Alaimo, a 20-year veteran, was charged today with official misconduct. He is suspended with pay pending an internal hearing.
Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, declined to comment further on the investigation. Jim McGonigal, president of the New Jersey Law Enforcement Supervisors Association, which represents Corrections sergeants, said Newsom will be exonerated in court.
"The prison is a very violent, fluid and dynamic place, and split-second decisions have to be made," he said. "It’s easy for people three and a half months after an incident to Monday-morning quarterback."
More details on the inmate, Bradley Peterson, were not available today.
© 2010 NJ.com. All rights reserved.
This blog was created solely for my students to generate intellectual dialogue with their classmates. Reach one and teach one. Peace.
24 comments:
JN 8831
This incident is very unfortunate no one should be treated with such anger and brutality.
It's not right for a correctional officer to beat someone in the head with a metal baton. What happens if the officer killed him? This goes to show what really happens in prisons and how people are treated. Yes they are there for things that are against the law, but they are already being punished while they are incarcerated.
- EM3583
I.D.8527
It is very unfortunate that things of this nature go on in prison, but it happens all the time.Granted this person has committed a crime and possibly endangered the life of another individual but their punishment is their JAIL TIME. There is alot that goes on with other inmates as far as physical abuse,but they shouldnt have to go through it with authoritative figures. These criminals are not angels but they are still human and they should be treated like one.
There is no reason for beating an inmate, he is all ready paying for his crimes. therefore there is no need fore any one to add any other type of punishment
JE#7974
This incident is very unfortunate. Inmates are people to, just because their in the correctional system.doesnt mean they have to be treated like animals.It could of been handled differently and the officers should be punished for the choices they made and being suspended with pay is not a punishment.T.C.3006.
Right because the 5 of you stupid morons know what Corrections Officers deal with during a normal work week. And just WOW, Royster...it clearly shows who's side you're on...and it's definitely not the color BLUE.
To the anonymous poster, I, Royster, maintain this site for my students. It is not about "Blue" or "non-Blue." This is to inform and keep my students engaged in discourse. If you are a former student, you should know the rules. I will never censor any critic. All I ask is that you identify yourself with your initials and last four of your ID. Please feel free to criticize anything that you like.
These people are still human beings just because you have more rights than they do at the moment does not mean that one can go around hitting people. Do unto others as you would like done to you.
lc9671
Some people think because your in jail you should be treated as an animal. The corrections officer received the punishment he deserved. How would he like for some one to do that to his son or brother. Law enforcement often forgets to treat others how they would wanna be treated.
I learned alot within the last 3 months, when you are around certain people in an certain enviroment, eventually you will behave like these people. This is just an example of that.
sb8642
JN 8831
This situation was handled in properly by these well experienced officers. They should have known better. In handling these inmates these officers needed to handle this situation with the proper psychological skills, with this in mind they could have avoided these unfortunate maltreatment towards an inmate.
Here is a situation were we have officers over using their power, now look at them one is losing his job and the other one is pending. was is all worth it in the end, i dont think so.
Talk about abusing the power that these officers hold. It really is a shame that these officer pr any officer can do things and cover it with not a care in the work. When do the people who are in charge start making examples out of the people that they supervise? It makes you wonder who is really in full command!!! I'm just saying...RSI-3774
Right is right and wrong is wrong!Corrections is not for everybody..they took advantage...lb9816
It's not right for a correctional officer to treated inmates as an animal. i believe everybody has a right to treated and respect like human being. no matter where they from or what color they are!
GY0229
So what! You have grown men yapping in your ear every moment of your shift. You do not go to prison for rehabilitation. You’re a convicted felon.
Yeah, prisoners have rights. Oh, did I offend your daddy, mommy, son, daughter or your uncle Billy Bob. I apologize if you are offended. However you should not do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Besides, we are told nothing about the inmate. Is he the guy that raped grandma or the addict that cut your face in order to snatch your purse?
I am not saying these corrections officers were right in harming another inmate. I do not even know if these men had committed previous violations. However, twenty or more years of being exposed to violent inmates and repeat offenders takes a toll on the mind and body.
I do not care how much you’re paid or how large is your pension. You’re still a working man. You could not get me to work in a prison. I don’t care how good the benefits are. I can make my money somewhere else.
Why do we pay these officers salary if they cant do there jobs correct. I think brutality is something that need to be payed attention too. In state prisons alot of abuse goes on and it needs to stop because these are people who can be our father, brother,son,and nephew. what are our justice system doing for these men inside the prisons that are being treated like animals.
thomas
i say we place these two correction officers under arrest and lets beat them while they are handcuffed with a metal baton and see if they like it. or better yet we can treat them like animals and not human beings, since thats what they are doing.
Has any one of you even checked the facts of the case. The fact that 3 months later there is still no indictment. Is it possible that the allegations are fictious? No everyone that has made a post has concluded with no facts of the case that these two officers committed the acts that were alleged. Not one has looked into the fact that the inmate is a rule 30 inmate from another state for assaultive behavior and that he has committed more than 15 of these same acts since being brought to NJ. Including the day in question, when the inmate savagely attacted an older officer with 24 years in the system. Obviously if any such assault on the inmate took place, both of these public servants who are out of work without pay would have been indicted by now. Come on people there are always two sides to a story.
Well Mr.Professor like you stated in you caption up top that you would like to generate interlectual dialogue. Well that sounds good and would be correct if the individuals that are looking at this matter one way. So i can see that these people either have been locked or are defense lawyers in the making. There are always two sides to every story so before you start to point the finger, look into the facts. And understand these officers are people also and have familys. With that said it's not about letting the uniform make you, but you as a person making that uniform. Not every office wakes up and goes to work looking to hurt "people". Also just remember people these inmates aren't locked up for helping the old lady cross the road. So keep an open mind.
If the inmate did nothing wrong then this officer should be charge accordly
swright
This man was already in handcuffed. What can he really do. What look at them to hard. Sometimes those in law enforcement need not to be in law enforcement. So many have gotten away with the things that is why they continue to do what they do. I guess this sometime makes them feel much powerful knowing that they have the upper hand because they are in uniform.
Arbubaker-1221
CJI 102
I was and inmate at new jersey state prison and know the officers in the incedent specially sgt newsom. Sgt newsom all he did was abused inmates on 2c and all over the prison I'm glad he got indicted now he will pay all the beating he gave to inmates he beat me up too the legal system will take care of that bad officer sent him to prison.
I know of this officer, Alaimo. He is lucky he only got caught covering up this crime. Too many C.O. in the Jersey DOC is corrupt. I had to call SDI on Alaimo more times than I can remember to report his miss-deeds. He is getting off easy as far as I am concerned.
Post a Comment