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| Ky. Inmates Sentenced in Jail Assault |
| By Kentucky Post |
| Published: 07/28/2003 |
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Two Grant County inmates charged with sodomizing an 18-year-old housed with them in the county jail were sentenced to prison Friday under a plea agreement entered in Grant County Circuit Court. Alexander Brandon Castillo, 18, of Dry Ridge, and Robert J. Tester, 29, of Middletown, were initially charged with first-degree sodomy and fourth-degree assault. Before the plea, both men had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison. The February incident that led to the charges has sparked a great deal of scrutiny of the practices at the Grant County Jail. The victim, just days past his 18th birthday, had been cited in Pendleton County for a traffic violation. He was placed in a general population cell in the Grant County jail, which houses Pendleton's prisoners. Prisoners in the cell included felons. According to witness accounts filed in the investigation of the attack, a Grant County jail deputy brought the young man to the cell door, commenting to inmates that he was bringing them 'fresh meat.' Castillo pleaded guilty to second-degree sodomy and fourth degree assault; he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Tester pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree assault and fourth degree assault; he was sentenced to five years. Both also faced being charged as persistent felony offenders, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Those charges were dropped. Castillo is currently serving a one-year sentence for criminal possession of a forged instrument. Tester is serving three years for methamphetamine possession. Kentucky State Police first investigated the case after jail officials told them the victim had reported he was attacked inside the jail after his Feb. 13 arrest on a traffic violation. The victim's attorney Don Nageleisen has said his client had been placed in the cell with many other prisoners, who stripped the 125-pound man and carried him to a shower area where he was raped by inmates. The man fainted. When he came to, he pleaded for help from prisoners and jail officials, Nageleisen said. Instead the prisoners once again attacked the man, then forced him to perform oral sex. Lisa Lamb, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, which oversees jail operations and the placement of state prisoners in county jails said Friday that the agency hadn't yet decided if any policies or the Grant County jail contract would be altered following the pleas. The victim has also filed a civil suit against the five inmates and several jail and county officials. |
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