PA corrections officer pleads no contest to assaulting Rockview state prison inmate
A Rockview state prison corrections officer accused of assaulting a restrained inmate pleaded no contest Thursday to one misdemeanor count of simple assault, a Centre County prosecutor said Friday.
Matt Clark, 43, was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation. Defense lawyer Harry Cooper declined comment Friday.
“We believe in humane prisons and a rational approach to criminal justice systems,” Pennsylvania Prison Society Volunteers Director John Hargreaves said. “This certainly is not a humane prison system when you’re kicking inmates in the head or knocking their head into the walls.”
Clark, who is white, was accused of kicking a Black inmate in the head in October 2019. The inmate was left with a hematoma and an abrasion on his forehead, an investigator wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
A lieutenant told the investigator Clark placed his hand on the inmate’s throat and dared the inmate to spit on him. The lieutenant called for another corrections officer because Clark was “escalating the situation,” the investigator wrote.
Clark continued to goad the inmate to spit on him until he did. Clark responded by kicking him in the forehead, the investigator wrote. Clark declined to participate in the investigation.
Clark was suspended without pay effective Nov. 1, 2019, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson said Friday. It’s unclear how long the suspension may continue. He was hired in June 2014.
One misdemeanor count of official oppression and one summary count of harassment were dropped.
“Our approach is the deprivation of liberty is the punishment; these people are locked up and away from society,” Hargreaves said. “Further torture is beyond the pale.”