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Jason Parks, 43, of Gibbstown, admitted he hit the inmate twice in the head while his arms were handcuffed behind him at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Burlington County on Feb. 19, 2019, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Dec. 20.
“The inmate was being held by two other correctional police officers and facing away from Parks at the time,” Platkin said. “The force of the blows knocked the inmate’s head against a wall.
“That use of force was in clear violation of the Department of Corrections’ Use of Force policy,” the attorney general added.
Parks then “filed a report in which he claimed the inmate cursed at him and threatened to spit in his face,” Platkin said, so he “struck the inmate in the mouth with an open hand to prevent him from spitting.”
Surveillance video and witness statements from the Bordentown prison told a different story, the attorney general said.
Parks also “directed another officer to write a report that echoed his own false narrative,” Platkin said.
In his plea, Parks admitted to conspiring with that officer to commit official misconduct and violate the DOC’s rules and policies, he added.
Rather than risk the consequences of a trial, Parks pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Mount Holly to conspiracy to commit official misconduct.
He agreed to permanently forfeit public employment in New Jersey as part of the deal and hopes it will all win him leniency when Superior Court Judge Terrance R. Cook sentences Parks on March 9, 2023.
“Correctional Police Officers take an oath to maintain and secure the facilities where they are assigned,” Platkin said. “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,” the attorney general said.
Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Gilmore and Deputy Attorneys General Andrew Wellbrock and Sherrod Smith secured the plea following an investigation by the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability along with the state Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division.
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