PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Woonsocket police officer accused of beating a teenager agreed Friday to plead guilty to depriving the boy of his civil rights.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop an obstruction-of-justice charge against the officer, John Douglas, and recommend a reduced prison term.

Douglas was indicted in December after an FBI investigation that began after the boy, then 16, showed up in court severely injured and said several officers had beaten him.

Douglas was accused of punching the teen in the Woonsocket police station after a violent arrest in September. The chief family court judge said at the time that the boy had a boot mark on his back and that one of his eyes was swollen shut.

“I hope this is a wake-up call to all police departments in Rhode Island that you have to do right, no matter how angry you get,” said Cliff Montiero, president of the Providence branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which had called for the FBI investigation that ultimately led to the charges.

Montiero urged better anger management training for police.

The boy is black and Douglas is white, though the indictment does not allege that race played a role.

Woonsocket police have said the altercation began after the teen was spotted walking down the street and was recognized as having escaped from a probationary program.

Police said he acted suspiciously, gave a false name and threw one of the officers to the ground. The boy said he was beaten during his arrest, then twice more at the station.

In court papers, Douglas’ lawyer, Thomas Briody, cited statements from another Woonsocket police officer describing the teen as “disrespectful.”

The teen has also sued the city for negligence, assault and battery and unreasonable search and seizure. That case is pending. A lawyer for the city declined to comment Friday.

Douglas, of Blackstone, Mass., faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence but is likely to get much less time as part of his plea agreement. He is scheduled to enter his plea June 23 in U.S. District Court in Providence.

Douglas was put on unpaid administration leave after the allegations were made. A Woonsocket police spokesman said Douglas remains suspended but would not comment further.

 

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