Pendleton guard charged with battery

By STEPHEN DICK

February 16, 2006 11:29 pm

— A guard at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility was arrested Thursday and charged with official misconduct, a Class D felony, and battery with injuries, a Class A misdemeanor.
Charles E. Patton, 40, Frankfort, a lieutenant at the facility, allegedly took a 15-year-old inmate into a time-out room, according to Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings.
In the room, Patton handcuffed the teen behind the back and shackled his legs. Standing behind the boy, the guard allegedly lifted the teen off the ground and dropped him on his face.
Cummings said the fall caused lacerations to his chin and broken teeth. The prosecutor also said there was a videotape of the incident.
Patton was booked into the Madison County jail late Thursday afternoon with bond set at $10,000.
According to a news release from the Department of Correction, Patton was hired in July 1999. He served as a youth services sergeant until being promoted to lieutenant in 2003. He was transferred to Pendleton in October 2005. He was suspended Thursday.
“I will not tolerate mistreatment of offenders by staff at any of our facilities,” said Commissioner J. David Donahue in the release. “I am appalled at the serious misconduct of these corrections officials and how their actions have negatively affected the many hardworking and dedicated corrections staff.”
Another correction official, not named in the news release, has been suspended and is under investigation for similar actions.
The DOC’s internal affairs staff joined with the Indiana State Police in conducting an investigation.