Former Isabella prison guard convicted of assaulting inmate – The Morning Sun

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

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Courtesy photo Isabella County commissioners recently obtained a preliminary feasibility study looking at the space needs of the county building, magistrate court, sheriff's department and jail.

A former Isabella prison guard was sentenced to probation, an anger management course and will never work in corrections again for assaulting an inmate in 2020.

Christopher Cluley, 48, of Mt. Pleasant, was sentenced Thursday to one year of probation for the jail assault of an Isabella County inmate, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.

Cluley pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated assault and willful neglect of duty in April.

Per his plea agreement, Cluley was required to sign an affidavit of decertification and an agreement not to recertify as a correctional officer, meaning he will never work as a correctional officer in Michigan again.

He will also have to undergo an assessment and anger management classes.

“Thanks to the work of the Isabella County Sheriff's Department, the Michigan State Police and our Public Integrity Unit, Mr. Cluley was permanently barred from working as a corrections officer in our state and can no longer harm inmates,” Nessel said.

“My office remains committed to ensuring that officers who violate their oath to protect and serve are held accountable. »

In April 2020, Cluley was working in the Isabella County Jail as an administrator in charge when he interacted with an inmate during a cell transfer. The transfer was the result of a verbal disagreement between the inmate and another correctional officer.

Once the inmate was standing just outside the cell, video evidence shows Cluley grabbed the inmate, spun him around and pushed him toward the cell door before pushing him against the wall next to the cell door.

Then, after walking the inmate to the new cell, Cluley pushed the inmate to the ground, where the inmate screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

An X-ray later revealed that the inmate suffered a broken left knee.

Cluley was placed on administrative leave while the Isabella County Sheriff's Department conducted an internal investigation.

The Isabella County Sheriff's Department then contacted the Michigan State Police (MSP), and the MSP Special Investigations Section conducted its own investigation and referred the matter to the Integrity Unit public office of the Ministry of the Attorney General.