Another employee suspended at Rogers State Prison

ATLANTA - A guard at the medium-security Rogers State Prison has been suspended for striking an inmate.<br> <br> Sgt. Mitchell Ray was suspended with pay after being accused of &#34;improper use of force,&#34; Department of Corrections spokeswoman Scheree Lipscomb said Friday. The alleged incident happened over Memorial Day weekend, Lipscomb said.<br> <br> But officials gave few other details of the incident.<br> <br> Ray is the sixth employee at the Reidsville prison to be suspended as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigates claims that inmates are routinely beaten there. Five other employees at the prison, including the warden and deputy warden, have been suspended with pay.<br> <br> The GBI investigation began last month when Tommy Cardell, who was a guard at the prison, claimed to have witnessed as many as 30 incidents where inmates were beaten while handcuffed. Cardell said the warden and deputy warden were present during one beating in a prison shower. The inmate later coughed up blood, he said.<br> <br> Department of Corrections officials have said Cardell&#39;s allegations are unproven. But Commissioner James Donald recently said department investigators have found him to be credible during interviews.