Guards Charged With Beating Inmate, Destroying Evidence At FMC Devens

DEVENS (AP) — Two correctional officers in Massachusetts were arrested and charged Thursday with beating a handcuffed inmate and attempting to cover it up, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said 39-year-old Seth Bourget, of Woodstock, Connecticut, kneed an inmate in the head while the inmate was handcuffed and restrained in a mental health housing unit at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons' Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts last June.

Prosecutors said Bourget, a senior correctional officer, also struck the inmate with a protective shield, causing additional injuries.

They said Joseph Lavorato, a prison lieutenant, then purposefully failed to report the true extent of inmate's injuries.

Prosecutors said the 51-year-old Wilmington, Massachusetts resident also destroyed a video recording of the incident and falsely stated that the security camera was not operational at the time.

Bourget was indicted on two counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Lavorato was indicted on obstruction of an official proceeding and destruction and falsification of records. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

The two appeared briefly in Boston federal court on Thursday, according to prosecutors. They were released pending their arraignment Feb. 13.

It couldn't be immediately determined if they had lawyers.

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