A former Gwinnett County deputy has been indicted by a federal grand jury for using excessive force against a female inmate in 2018, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Thursday.
Aaron S. Masters, 27, of Jefferson has been charged with unnecessarily assaulting the inmate and writing a false incident report.
Masters was a member of the Rapid Response Team at the Gwinnett County Jail when, in August 2018, he repeatedly struck the inmate in the face with a closed fist, injuring her, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office. He then wrote a report in which in falsely claimed the physical force was necessary to gain the inmate’s cooperation, the office said.
“We recognize that corrections officers have a difficult job as they maintain order and protect inmates in our district's prisons and county jails,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said. “However, this deputy sheriff must be held accountable for allegedly abusing his authority by committing a violent and unnecessary assault on an inmate, and then writing a false report to cover up the incident.”
The indictment charging Masters with violating the inmate’s civil rights was handed down on Tuesday.
