SOMERSET, PA - Two more former Somerset County Jail inmates are suing the county and Warden Tim Mapes, contending they were beaten with rubber shower shoes and assaulted during widespread abuse at the lockup.

Richard Ellis, 48, of Windber and Justin Taylor, 22, of Meyersdale filed civil suits Monday in county court, seeking unspecified damages. The two contend the county and Mapes knew about the pervasiveness of the assaults, but ignored the problem.

Four former inmates now have sued the jail since borough police arrested seven suspected ringleaders in the scandal 14 months ago. On just his second day in jail, Ellis was beaten by inmates Shawn Hadix, Elvis Brown, Randy Shipley Jr. and Jared Levadnik, the lawsuit said. Brown, Hadix and Shipley all have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the beating. Charges were dropped against Levadnik.

Three weeks ago, Brown was sentenced to up to six years in state prison for three separate assaults at the jail, while Hadix received nine months to two years. Taylor said he was assaulted by two undisclosed inmates on April 4, 2004 – his first night in jail. The inmates were identified only by the first names “Brandon” and “Shane.”

The suit said the two punched Taylor, choked him, kicked him and repeatedly beat him with the shower shoes in the lower back and buttocks. It said Taylor sustained cuts and bruises to his head and a fractured nose, and still suffers from headaches and dizzy spells.

Ellis and Taylor said the county's conduct constituted “deliberate indifference” to their safety, health and constitutional rights.

They said the county failed to adequately supervise inmates in a secure setting and allowed a gang of prisoners to routinely intimidate, haze and assault other prisoners. They added officers turned their heads to the abuse, while complaints by inmates weren't properly investigated.

They said Mapes was aware of the hazings and shower-shoe beatings, but “sanctioned, condoned or acquiesced in allowing this environment to continue.”

Pittsburgh attorney Carlyle J. Engel has filed all four lawsuits against the county tied to the jail scandal. Six of the suspected ringleaders charged in March 2005 have pleaded guilty to their roles in the assaults, while charges were dismissed against the seventh.

Borough police have said they are working with the state Attorney General's Office to determine whether more charges will be filed against inmates or jail personnel in connection with the beatings. Authorities have said they have uncovered reports of dozens of other assaults at the jail, though no major incidents have been reported since the scandal came to light.