A former South Carolina prison guard accused of using chemical spray on an inmate is facing multiple charges, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC).
Louis Quattlebaum Jr., 28, was charged with third-degree assault and battery and misconduct in office, SCDC officials said. He is from Sumter, South Carolina.
Quattlebaum was a lieutenant at Turbeville Correctional Institution, a men’s prison in Turbeville, South Carolina in Clarendon County.
According to arrest warrants, the incident occurred on September 23, 2019. An inmate threw an unknown liquid substance at Quattlebaum through the food flap of a locked cell.
Quattlebaum “got angry” and sprayed the inmate with a chemical spray through the food flap, according to arrest warrants. The inmate was behind a locked cell door and didn’t pose a threat to the guard during the incident.
He then came back a short time later and threw “an unknown brown liquid” on the inmate, who “suffered temporaty injury to his face, but not rising to the level of moderate bodily injury,” arrest warrants say.
Quattlebaum no longer works for SCDC.
Quattlebaum is the second guard at Turbeville Correctional Institution to face criminal charges.
Quincena Murray, of Greeleyville, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, furnishing or attempting to furnish a prisoner with contraband and misconduct in office on Jan. 4.
“The S.C. Department of Corrections reminds members of the public that after an arrest, the burden of proof is on the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt within a court of law,” SCDC Office of Investigations and Intelligence officials said in a news release.
A level two (medium security) facility, Turbeville holds inmates sentenced under the state’s youthful offender act – most of whom are between the ages of 17 and 25 years old. The prison was the site of a high-profile stabbing back in November – part of a string of violent incidents to befall SCDC institutions this year.
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