Prosecutor: Video Shows Guard Injuring Teen

ANDERSON, Ind. -- A corrections officer faces felony charges after video showed him causing a shackled teen to fall and hit his face onto a concrete floor at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility, the Madison County prosecutor said.

Charles Patton, 40, has been charged with battery and official misconduct and has been suspended from his job, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported Thursday.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Patton put a 15-year-old inmate in a "time out" room -- a small, bare room with one door -- after the teen was involved in a fight with other inmates on Jan. 29.

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Slideshow: See Surveillance Images

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Video from a surveillance camera in the room shows that while the teens' hands and legs were shackled, Patton -- facing the teen's back -- grabbed the teen's legs and pulled them out from under him, Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said.

The video shows the teen falling forward, smacking his face onto the floor.

"(The teen was) picked up and dropped on his face on a concrete slab. Nothing justifies that," Cummings said.

Cummings said the teen suffered four cracked teeth.

"There appeared to be blood on his clothing, and (Patton) just walked away and left him there," Cummings said.

Cummings said nothing in the teen's behavior justified "this sort of reaction from this officer."

The teen was treated for his injuries, but he initially lied about how they happened because he was afraid of what Patton might do later, authorities said.

The state Department of Corrections placed Patton on leave when it found out about the video, Carmack reported.

According to the affidavit, Patton denied he had hurt the teen when approached by investigators. Then investigators showed Patton the video, and Patton said he didn’t mean to cause harm, according to the affidavit.

"There's just no explanation for this kind of abuse of trust," Cummings said.

The Corrections Department said a second worker at the Pendleton facility also is suspended on accusations that he used excessive force against an inmate. Details on that case were not released.