Phila. prison guard charged in brutal beating of inmate

A Philadelphia prison guard has been arrested and charged in the brutal beating of an inmate, authorities said.

Larry Levy, a corrections officer at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, allegedly attacked a prisoner on Nov. 25, 2014. He has been charged with assault, possessing an instrument of crime, obstruction, and official oppression.

According to District Attorney Seth Williams, the prisoner was returning to his cell when he asked Levy if he could wait outside while his cellmate used the toilet. Levy responded by telling the inmate to "get the [expletive] in your cell." The inmate then walked away from Levy to ask another corrections officer on the cell block if he could have permission to wait outside his cell. At that point, Levy struck the inmate in the back of the head multiple times.

Williams said Levy then knocked the prisoner to the ground, continued beating him, and then sprayed him with Mace. The inmate, because of the attack, suffered injuries to his neck and chronic headaches.

"Our law enforcement community, and that includes the men and women of the Philadelphia Prison System, have difficult and dangerous jobs, but there is no reason to brutally attack and mace a prisoner like Philadelphia Corrections Officer Levy did," said District Attorney Seth Williams in a statement. "This was a needless and unconscionable attack and I hope that Mr. Levy's arrest continues to send the message that no one is above the law."

Levy became a corrections officer in October 2008 and was assigned to the Curran-Fromhold facility in July 2013.

Last year, a City Paper investigation uncovered a number of beatings of prisoners at the same prison. There have been no arrests of guards in those cases. One of the beatings was captured on video. In the surveillance footage, a corrections officer coldcocks a prisoner in the face and then, with the help of  another guard, proceeds to beat him. The prisoner, John Steckley, was charged with assault.