COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Franklin County sheriff has fired two deputies who are accused of feeding a bologna sandwich to a jail inmate after they had another inmate rub his penis on it.
Deputies Joseph Cantwell, 38, and Phillip Barnett, 26, were reassigned to the control center, away from prisoners, after the complaint about the sandwich came to Sheriff Jim Karnes’ attention in March.
Today, the Columbus man who says he was forced to rub his penis on the sandwich sued the county, along with Cantwell and Barnett, alleging cruel and unusual punishment.
Todd E. Triplett, 49, of the South Side, said the two deputies forced him to cooperate, threatening to send him to “the hole,” jail slang for solitary confinement.
They are accused of recording the act with a cell-phone camera, feeding the sandwich to another jail prisoner and showing him the picture.
The lawsuit in Common Pleas Court alleges assault and battery, civil-rights abuses and infliction of emotional distress.
“I didn’t want to harm no one,” Triplett said at a news conference in the office of his attorney, Byron L. Potts. “They picked on me because I’m more a passive person.
“I fear going back there every day, or that I might be set up,” he said, tears streaming down his face.
Detectives charged Cantwell with misdemeanor crimes of dereliction of duty, disorderly conduct and two health-code violations. He is due in court on Tuesday.
Potts said he has seen the photo of his client that was on Cantwell’s phone.
“We want to expose this to the public and know if anyone else has been damaged,” Potts said. “The sheriff’s not going to tell me. I’m asking the inmates. I understand this has been going on for quite a while.”
Karnes declined to comment.
Courtesy The Columbus Dispatch
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