Ex-Missouri jailer pleads guilty in assault case
KANSAS CITY (AP) - A former Missouri correctional officer has pleaded guilty to violating an inmate's constitutional rights during an assault at a county jail.
Thirty-three-year-old Eric Bottorff of St. Joseph admitted Wednesday to beating a 29-year-old inmate at the Clay County Detention Center in 2008. His attorney and the prosecutor agreed to ask for a sentence of probation if the judge accepts the plea deal during sentencing.
Authorities say the inmate admitted to possessing drugs when he was booked into the jail for outstanding warrants. They say Bottorff sprayed mace in the inmate's eyes and punched him more than a dozen times in the face, back and buttocks.
The inmate was treated for cuts and bruises.
Bottorff was fired in January 2009.