Former juvenile hall counselor sentenced for assaulting teen
SANTA CLARA - A 46-year-old man working as a Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall counselor has been sentenced to six months of home detention for assaulting a 17-year-old boy while on the job last year, prosecutors announced Friday.
Robert Medellin, who had been on the job for about 20 years, intervened in a fight between teenage boys in the common area of one of the juvenile hall buildings and grabbed a 17-year-old boy, took him to the floor and punched him about a dozen times, then slammed his head into the floor before he was handcuffed, according to the county District Attorney's Office.
The attack was videotaped and Medellin ended up being charged for the assault, and a jury convicted him in June, prosecutors said.
"There is law and order inside jails and detention centers just as there is on the outside. There is never an acceptable place, moment, or excuse for someone with a badge to use more force than necessary," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release announcing the sentencing.