Fourth officer charged in assault at New Jersey women’s prison
A fourth correctional officer has been charged in connection with an assault on at least six inmates, and an attempted coverup of this attack, at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey. The charges result from an incident that took place at the women’s prison in January. The brutality of the incident and the seriousness of the victims’ injuries prompted the state attorney general to open an ongoing investigation. It is the latest in a long series of inquiries concerning the prison.
On February 24, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal charged Sgt. Matthew Faschan with two counts of second-degree official misconduct and one count of third-degree tampering with public records or information. Faschan, who has been suspended, was asked to film the extraction of several prisoners from their cells during the incident in question. One victim claims that Faschan deliberately did not record the process of her extraction, during which she was repeatedly punched although she was handcuffed and offering no resistance. Faschan is accused of failing to stop other officers from using improper force and of failing to report the unauthorized use of force. Both alleged actions violate Department of Corrections (DOC) policies.