WOODBINE, Ga. – A Camden County corrections officer has been arrested and accused of aggravated assault against an inmate, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The GBI said it charged Camden County Sergeant Corrections Officer Joshua Beauchamp, 37, was also charged with giving false statements and violation of oath of public office.
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From November 2022 until now, at least six corrections officers at the Camden County Detention Center have been accused of committing crimes against inmates.
“This isn’t a couple of bad apples. This is a bad apple tree,” civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who is representing several former inmates, told News4JAX in May.
RELATED: Three former Camden County Sheriff’s Officer employees indicted after inmate beating | I-TEAM: Camden County jail officers used force on Black inmates disproportionately, records show
On July 12, the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office requested the GBI to investigate an alleged use of force incident that involved Beauchamp and an inmate at the jail in Woodbine.
According to GBI, the investigation found that on July 3 while escorting the handcuffed inmate to an isolation cell, Beauchamp shoved the inmate into a door during a verbal exchange. The door opened and the inmate hit his head which left him unconscious, GBI said.
The inmate was taken to Southeast Georgia Health System where he was treated and released. Beauchamp was booked into the jail.
GBI said the investigation is active and ongoing and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI regional investigative office in Kingsland at 912-729-6198.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
The jail first came under scrutiny in November when attorneys released a video of guards beating inmate Jarett Hobbs. Three of the officers in the video were fired and indicted by a grand jury.
