Two former Oklahoma jail employees and their supervisor are facing misdemeanor cruelty charges after investigators found they forced inmat...
Two former Oklahoma jail employees and their supervisor are facing misdemeanor cruelty charges after investigators found they forced inmates to listen to popular children's song 'Baby Shark' on repeat as punishment.
At least four prisoners at the Oklahoma County jail were secured to a wall with their hands cuffed behind them while the song played on a loop at a loud volume for hours, prosecutors said on Monday.
The separate incidents occurred in an attorney visitation room of the facility last November and December, The Oklahoman reported.
At least four prisoners at the Oklahoma County jail (pictured) were secured to a wall with their hands cuffed behind them while the song played on a loop at a loud volume for hours, prosecutors said
Gregory Cornell Butler Jr. and Christian Charles Miles, both 21, and their supervisor, Christopher Raymond Hendershott, 50, on Monday were charged with misdemeanor counts of cruelty to a prisoner and conspiracy.
Butler and Miles are accused of imposing the discipline and Hendershott is accused of knowing about it but not stopping it, the newspaper reported.
'It was unfortunate that I could not find a felony statute to fit this fact scenario,' Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said.
'I would have preferred filing a felony on this behavior.'
Court records do not list an attorney for any of them.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, Miles admitted to working with Butler to 'teach [the inmates] a lesson because they felt that disciplinary action within the Detention Center was not working in correcting' their behavior.
The song was reported to be a joke between the two and Butler confirmed he had used the room 'as a means of punishment'.
Two former jail employees and their supervisors are now facing cruelty charges over the incident. The 'Baby Shark' song gained huge popularity two years ago after the company Pinkfong released its first video online
Investigators said the prisoners suffered 'inhuman' discipline as well as 'undue emotional stress' from the unconventional punishment.
Hendershott allegedly first learned of the practice on November 23, but failed to take any immediate action against the officers, the paper reported.
'This appeared to have led to the Officers continuing to mistreat inmates,' investigators said.
Sheriff P.D. Taylor said Monday that Butler and Miles resigned during an internal investigation and that Hendershott retired.
'We don't tolerate it,' Taylor said of the mistreatment. 'We always did an excellent job policing ourselves.'
The 'Baby Shark' song gained huge popularity two years ago after the company Pinkfong released its first video online.
The video has since been viewed more than 6.5billion times.
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