Guard Pleads Guilty to Using Excessive Force at Indiana Jail Sued Nine Times in Two Years
Entering a guilty plea in federal court for the Southern District of Indiana on October 15, 2024, former Henry County Jail guard Curtis Lavon Doughty, 27, admitted using excessive force against a compliant detainee in an incident the previous year.
Doughty was guarding detainees that were herded in the jail recreation yard during a cell search on February 13, 2024. He ordered them to face a wall, but one detainee, Matthew Flick, 27, reportedly turned his head, prompting Doughty to yell, “Face the fucking wall!” Flick yelled back that he was “facing the fucking wall.” Without warning, Doughty then shot the detainee in the back at point-blank range with a pepper ball gun, leaving a bruise on his spine.
After reviewing surveillance video of the incident the next day, Sheriff John Sproles fired Doughty. County Prosecutor Michael Mahoney charged him with misdemeanor battery. The status of that charge was unclear. Curiously, Sproles cited not the guard’s abuse for firing him but his language: “I do not accept dropping f-bombs,” he said. The plea agreement did not include a recommended sentence, so Doughty could go to federal prison for up to 10 years. See: United States v. Doughty, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 1:24-cr-00187.
It was the second time in months that a jail detainee was shot with “less lethal” ammunition. Former detainee Marquette Neal was kicking a cell door, he admitted, when Sproles shot him with beanbag rounds at close range behind both knees in July 2023. Neal filed a tort claim in state court for his injuries on November 2, 2023, one of at least nine legal claims filed against the Sheriff’s office since Sproles assumed it in January 2023.
Also that day, another tort claim was filed by Shirley Police Dep’t Off. Roger Humphries, accusing Sproles of trying to get him fired after a disagreement over handling a disabled bus. Sproles was on his way back from church when he stopped at the broken-down bus to announce his suspicion that the group aboard was engaged in human trafficking; in fact, it was a Milwaukee dance group, whose leader named Winston filed yet another tort claim for Sproles’ interference.
Two more claims against the Sheriff were filed in federal court on May 6, 2024; one by the family of Nicholus Woolums, 25, after he died in a car crash while being chased by a first-year deputy, who had not yet attended the state law enforcement academy. The lawsuit alleged that the pursuit was conducted without proper supervision. Plaintiff is represented by attorneys Shannon B. Mize and Jason A. Schartzer of Schartzer Law Firm LLC in Indianapolis. See: Woolums v. Henry Cty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 1:24-cv-01554
That same day, former jail detainee Sam Shipley filed suit alleging sexual abuse by former Deputy Director Jason Bertram. Shipley claimed that jail officials failed to prevent the abuse or adequately respond to his complaints before Bertram committed suicide in January 2023. He is represented by attorneys Annemarie Alonzo and Jonathan C. Little of Saeed & Little LLP in Indianapolis. See: Shipley v. Williams, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 1:24-cv-00766
In another suit filed on January 31, 2024, Stacy Smith said that jailers kept her strapped in a restraint chair for four days after an arrest during a February 2023 mental health crisis with minimal breaks to eat and use the bathroom. When finally allowed to sleep in a padded cell, she awoke to overhear guards boasting of “a new one for the spank bank”—images of her vagina captured from surveillance video that they had kept for their masturbatory pleasure, she said. She is represented by attorneys with the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). See: Smith v. Armstrong, USDC (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 1:24-cv-00213.
Two additional tort claims filed on January 12, 2024, accused Sproles of abusing his power. In one, Kory Atwood claimed that the Sheriff ran a criminal background check without justification, wrongly calling Atwood a “known gang member” who was attempting to infiltrate the Sheriff’s department. In the other claim, Diane Baker said Sproles searched her name in a criminal justice database three times after she left critical comments on Sproles’ official Facebook page.
More comments on that Facebook page allegedly provoked Sproles to block local political commentator and podcast host Kristopher Bilbrey. He filed suit on July 20, 2023, also with the ACLU’s help. See: Bilbrey v. Sproles, Bilbrey v. Sproles, No. 1:23-cv-01259
Flick has threatened another suit for Doughty’s abuse. “There’s been no judgments against me,” Sproles insisted. “No claims paid out. These will all see their day in court.” Travelers Insurance Co. dropped the County’s liability coverage in December 2023.
Additional sources: Muncie Star Press, WXIN
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