A Lucas County Jail employee faces criminal charges for allegedly beating up an inmate. The assault was caught on video. The inmate filed a complaint with his counselor.
The Sheriff's Office launched an investigation and talked with the prosecutor's office who decided the corrections officer should be charged.
Lucas County Jail corrections officer Jacob Kurth is charged with assault. Friday, detectives charged the 30-year-old for allegedly beating up inmate Francisco Cortez. The incident happened in December.
"There seem to have been so sort of disagreement about being locked down he wasn't really refusing but he didn't want to comply and for one reason or another the officer assaulted him," said Lucas County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Joseph Gorney.
The incident was caught on the jail's video surveillance system. Investigators say Cortez and other inmates were misbehaving so corrections officers decided to lock them down.
"He was just in the general area watching TV. There was a bunch of noise and he refuse to go into lock up"
Investigators decline to discuss the inmates injures. According to this court document Kurth assaulted the inmate by "pushing/hitting the victim in the face /head area causing minor abrasions and cuts to the victim's mouth and face."
"This stuff is not going to be tolerated here," said Detective Sgt. Gorney.
Investigators say the incident happened on the fourth floor of the jail. Jail records state Cortez is locked up on an aggravated vehicular homicide charge.
As for Kurth jail administrators have removed him from the fourth floor and he's been restricted from having any contact with any inmates.
13abc went by Kurth's home, but no one answered the door. Kurth is expected to face a judge in February.
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