Florida Prison Officer Sentenced For Assaulting Young Inmates In Broom Closet

Florida Phoenix

September 10, 2021

Former Florida prison officer Terrance Reynolds, convicted of assaulting young inmates at a South Florida prison, was sentenced in federal court this week to 33 months in prison.

Reynolds, 31, was tried and convicted of assaulting the young offenders in a broom closet at the South Florida Reception Center, a state prison in Doral for offenders in their teens and early 20s, according to a news announcement late Thursday from the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Reynolds was one of two guards involved in the case and the second former officer previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court, according to the news release.

The Justice Department said Reynolds and the other prison officer conspired to beat and intimidate three young inmates for “being disruptive and disrespectful earlier that morning.” They directed the inmates into a broom closet and assaulted one of the three while the others were forced to watch. A second inmate was similarly beaten the next day for discussing the incident, the news release says.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General.

“Corrections officers who use unjustified force against inmates in their custody violate the Constitution, and the Justice Department will not tolerate that,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

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