Five Prison Guards Charged With Ripping Off Inmate's Dreadlock as a "Souvenir" of Beating

Five New York prison guards were charged for allegedly beating an inmate and ripping off his dreadlock as a "souvenir."

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Complex Original

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Federal prosecutors have charged five New York correctional officers in the beating of black inmate Kevin Moore in 2013 and its subsequent cover up, the Department of Justice revealed Wednesday. The beating left a then 54-year-old Moore with fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, facial fractures, and a missing piece of dreadlocks after officers yanked them out reportedly as a "souvenir."

The U.S. Attorney’s office charged former sergeant Kathy Scott (also known as Kathy Todd) and former correction officers George Santiago Jr. and Carson Morris with "conspiring to deprive the victim of his Constitutional rights and depriving the victim of his Constitutional rights under color of law, as well as two counts of obstructing justice by conspiring to file false reports and filing false reports with DOCCS." Two other former correction officers, Donald Cosman and Andrew Lowery, pled guilty to "conspiring to deprive the victim of his Constitutional rights; depriving the victim of his Constitutional rights under color of law; obstructing justice by conspiring to file false reports; and filing false reports."

The beating happened at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill when Moore and another inmate were told to remove their shoelaces because they were going to stay in Forensic Diagnostic Unit cells, cells designed for inmates with mental issues, that night. Moore reportedly spoke up about not wanting to be put in the cell. The beating began, under the supervision of Scott, who also participated. Morris punched and hit Moore with a baton before the other officers threw Moore on the ground.

Morris kept hitting Moore, while Santiago kicked and punched him—reportedly laughing at one point. Scott reportedly grabbed Moore as he was getting beaten and later told officers to hold Moore down. Moore, in pain, asked for the officers to stop. Cosman and Lowery punched and kicked Moore as he lay exposed. Upon seeing Moore’s dreadlocks that were ripped out during the beating, Santiago said he wanted them as a "souvenir" for his motorcycle.

The officers had to pick up Moore after the beating left him lying in a pool of blood. Injuries as a result of the beating saw Moore hospitalized for 17 days. But the inmate wasn’t sent to the hospital right away—after the beating, the officers put him in solitary confinement overnight.

After the beating, the officers agreed to fabricate a story that Moore had gotten violent, attacking Cosman. Cosman agreed. For proof, Santiago hit Cosman in the back to create the marks from the alleged attack while Scott took photos.  

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said about the case: “Inmates may be walled off from the public, but they are not walled off from the Constitution.  And when correction officers viciously beat an inmate in their charge, then collude among themselves to cover it up—as alleged here—they trample on the Constitution and the very laws they have sworn to uphold.”

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