Fifteen Officers, Including Top Corrections Administrator, Now Charged in New Jersey Women's Prison Assault

The New Jersey Attorney General announced charges today against a top official at the state’s women’s prison for covering up the assault of inmates earlier this year. 

The associate administrator at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility faces conspiracy and other charges. He was charged along with a major and three officers, bringing the total number of arrests related to the January assault to 15. Prosecutors say during nearly three hours one night last January, correctional officers forcibly extracted women from their cells, assaulting them in the process. One officer allegedly punched a woman in the head and neck 28 times. Then, prosecutors say, top officials at the jail lied on official reports about what happened.

The scandal led Governor Phil Murphy to announce that the prison will close in the coming years.