Jury finds former prison guard guilty of assaulting inmate

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — A former corrections officer accused of striking a handcuffed inmate in the head with a baton at an Ohio prison and fracturing his jaw has been found guilty of felonious assault.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell says jurors found 52-year-old John Hinkle, of Trenton, guilty Tuesday on assault counts of knowingly causing serious physical harm to another and knowingly causing physical harm to another by means of a deadly weapon.

Fornshell’s statement says Hinkle was employed at Lebanon Correctional Institution when he struck the inmate in 2018. Fornshell says the inmate was kneeling and handcuffed behind his back when Hinkle hit him in a use of force that was “not justified.”

A message seeking comment was left for Hinkle’s lawyer.

Authorities said the assault followed a fight between rival gangs.