Former Ohio Jail Deputy Charged with Civil Rights Violations

A three-count indictment was unsealed yesterday charging a former Franklin County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office deputy with two counts of depriving an inmate of his civil rights and one count of conspiring to do the same.

According to the indictment, in March 2022, Matthew Carey, 27, of Grove City, Ohio, was employed as a deputy with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, and he worked in the Franklin County Corrections Center. While he was working, it is alleged that Carey intentionally disclosed a pretrial detainee’s pending charges to another detainee.

The indictment details that Carey knew the victim detainee had been charged with a sex offense, and that individuals charged with sex offenses were at increased risk of being physically assaulted by other detainees. It is alleged that the other detainee understood Carey’s words and gestures to be directing and authorizing an attack on the victim.

The indictment charges that Carey had no legitimate law enforcement reason to disclose the victim’s charges, and that, after disclosing that information, Carey took no reasonable steps to protect the victim from the predictable and expected assault by other inmates that Carey had set in motion.

In addition to the conspiracy, Carey is charged with two counts of depriving the victim of his constitutional rights under color of law, first by depriving the detainee of his right to be free from unreasonable force and second by depriving the detainee of his right to be free from a deputy’s deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm. The indictment charges that the crimes resulted in bodily injury.

If convicted, Carey faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola of the FBI Cincinnati Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Cincinnati Field Office investigated the case.

Deputy Criminal Chief Jessica W. Knight for the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Cameron Bell of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.