Officials with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office are presenting information to prosecutors about an assault on an inmate at the county jail in Portland this month, and two other inmates are expected to be charged in the case.

Chief Deputy Naldo Gagnon said the victim was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment, then spent two days in the jail infirmary.

There are security cameras throughout the jail, and Gagnon said the incident was recorded.

“The cameras verified the information we received, so it’s going to be used against the perpetrators,” he said.

Gagnon would not characterize the assault or release information on the motive, saying that information will be released once charges are brought. He said he didn’t believe the attack was sexual in nature.

The incident happened Sept. 21 in a general-population housing unit at the jail. The inmate reported the attack about 1½ hours after it occurred, but the jail administration was not alerted to it until two days later. Gagnon said he could not explain the apparent delay.

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The inmate who was attacked is being held for the U.S. Marshals Service, which was notified of the incident. Gagnon said he did not think the federal agency would reduce the number of its prisoners at the jail. The Marshals Service pays to temporarily house people in its custody at the jail.

“It is so rare for an inmate to get assaulted, let alone a federal inmate,” Gagnon said, in explaining that the incident is not a systemic problem.

The victim and the suspected perpetrators are being housed in segregation, away from other inmates, while the investigation is underway, he said.

 


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