BOSTON (WHDH) - Two correctional officers at a Massachusetts prison were arrested Thursday in connection with the alleged beating of a handcuffed inmate and the destruction of video evidence of the alleged assault in an effort to coverup the crime, officials announced.
Seth M. Bourget, 39, of Woodstock, Connecticut, and Joseph M. Lavorato, 51, of Wilmington, were indicted on charges in connection with a violent incident involving an inmate at the U.S. Bureau Prisons Federal Medical Center in Devens over the summer, according to United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling.
Bourget is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Boston on charges including two counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law. Lavorato is facing charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and destruction and falsification of records in a federal investigation.
“These corrections officers abused their authority and the public’s trust by allegedly injuring a vulnerable inmate and then attempting to cover it up,” Lelling said in a news release. This conduct is an affront to the law enforcement officers who serve honorably every day and fulfill their duties with fairness and integrity. Today’s charges reflect the Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting official misconduct.”
In June 2019, Bourget dropped his knee on a handcuffed and restrained inmate’s head in the mental health housing unit, resulting in bodily injury, according to the indictment. He then allegedly struck the inmate with a protective shield in a locked cell.
Lavorato allegedly obstructed an investigation into the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s review of the use of force by “purposely failing to timely and accurately report the nature and extent of inmate’s injuries and intentionally concealing the existence a video recording of the incident in an official report,” authorities said.
He is also accused of destroying a video recording of the incident and falsely stating in a report that the security camera was not operational at the time due to a dead battery.
An investigation is ongoing.
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