A former supervisory correctional officer at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for encouraging an assault on an inmate and concealing the abuse for years.
According to a Nov. 18 U.S. Department of Justice news release, Jonathan Taum, 50, was given three concurrent prison terms, the longest of which was 144 months, by U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi for his involvement in the assault and long-running cover-up conspiracy.
“Protecting the civil rights of everyone in the community, including inmates, is at the heart of our system of justice,” District of Hawaii U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors said in the release. “Supervisors in our correctional facilities are held to a higher standard of responsibility and as this case demonstrates, we will prosecute those who criminally violate the civil rights of those in their custody.”
Taum oversaw his two co-defendants and a third correctional officer on June 15, 2015, when they moved an inmate across the institution, the release reported. During the transfer, the inmate started to get scared, so Taum's fellow cops knocked him to the ground and continuously kicked and beat him in the head, body and face.
Taum urged the other officers to keep beating the prisoner which lead to the inmate's jaw, orbital socket and nose being fractured. He led the officers in a cover-up plot which included fabricating reports, giving false testimony to the disciplinary board and giving false statements to internal affairs, according to the release.
“This case highlights how the FBI will vigorously investigate and hold accountable any individual who violates the civil rights of an inmate,“ FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill said in the release. “We are committed in ensuring that every citizen — whether free or incarcerated — can exercise their protected liberties without fear of violence. This case should deter others in a position of power from such behavior in the future.”
