Ex-NJ Corrections Officer At Youth Facility Admits Inmate Assault: AG

BORDENTOWN, NJ - A former corrections officer at a New Jersey youth correctional facility in South Jersey pleaded guilty earlier this month after striking an inmate in the back of the head while the prisoner was handcuffed and restrained by other officers and attempted to cover up the incident, federal officials said.

Jason Parks, 43, of Gibbstown, N.J., a former Senior Correctional Police Officer at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Bordentown, appeared on Dec. 5 in Burlington County Superior Court and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit official misconduct, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.

Parks also admitted that the force of the blows knocked the inmate’s head against a wall, a use of force that was in clear violation of the Department of Corrections’ Use of Force policy, the attorney general’s office said.

“Correctional Police Officers take an oath to maintain and secure the facilities where they are assigned,” said Attorney General Platkin. “The actions of the officer were not only unjustified and excessive, they were brutal and vicious. We will continue to hold law enforcement officers accountable to their promise to protect all New Jerseyans – including those in state custody.”

After the Feb. 19, 2019, assault, Parks filed a report claiming the inmate cursed at him and threatened to spit in his face, and that Parks struck the inmate in the mouth with an open hand to prevent him from spitting. However, surveillance video and witness statements contradicted those claims, the attorney general’s office said.

After the incident, Parks directed another officer to write a report that corroborated his story, officials said.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2023. Parks faces up to a decade in prison; under the plea deal, the ex-corrections officer also agreed to permanently forfeit public employment in the Garden State.

“Part of the Department of Corrections’ mission is running facilities that are not only secure but that also treat those in custody humanely, and this assaultive behavior will not be tolerated,” said Thomas Eicher, Executive Director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). “To make matters worse, Parks falsified documents and dragged a fellow correctional police officer into filing a false and misleading report.”