Special Report: Inmate abuse | Tampabay.com • St. Petersburg Times

Already the captives had complained of arm-breaking, of wheelchair-dumping, of blows to the head and brain damage. Now this.

In the growing alarm over guard-on-inmate violence at the main Hillsborough jail, Friday brought an unsettling new image: a man in a cell, bound to a chair, head covered in a mask.

The man was a teacher. He was the sixth inmate in February to publicly claim abuse at the hands of Hillsborough jail deputies. And a seventh would surface by early afternoon. There was talk of a class-action lawsuit.

[Times photos]

Complete coverage

Hillsborough jail abusee panel begins its work (March 11)
Spending 12 hours a day in jail is no dream job for deputies (March 9)
Tampa Bay area lawyer hypes flamboyant cases (March 6)
One Hillsborough jail deputy back at work (March 6)
Reforms at Hillsborough jails are overshadowed by abuse incidents (March 5)
More claims hit Hillsborough jail (March 1)
Sheriff opens jail for review (Feb. 29)
Another abuse claim leveled at jail staffers (Feb. 28)
Hillsborough revisiting training for jail workers (Feb. 22)
Charlana Irving: Jail deputy broke my arm (Feb. 21)
Marcella Pourmoghani: Alleged beating isn't like the wheelchair dumping, officials contend (Feb. 20)
Brian Sterner: Jail video catches two lives crossing, changing (Feb. 15)
Jail deputy praised by judge (Feb. 15)
Video brings fire on deputy (Feb. 14)
Treatment of disabled man attracts national spotlight (Feb. 13)
Deputy dumped man from wheelchair, video suggests (Feb. 12)

Video reports

Paul King
The former special education teacher says deputies violently threw him to the floor, put a hood over his head and blocked the view of a camera before beating him.
Benjamin Rayburn:
Video shows Rayburn, a paraplegic, being knocked to a holding cell floor, where he is left. The Sheriff's Office says deputies acted properly after Rayburn attempted to attack them.
Charlana Irving:
Jail footage shows a guard pulling Irving's arms behind her back and leading her away. In an interview, the 28-year-old exotic dancer says, "The first thing that came out of my mouth was 'How is this allowed to happen?'
Marcella Pourmoghani:
The Tampa woman has sued the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office for allegedly abusing her when she was booked on a DUI charge at the county jail in November 2006. Jail footage shows guards hitting her. "I could not breathe from the blood pouring from my mouth and face," she says.
Brian Sterner:
Footage from jail a detention deputy dumping the quadriplegic from his wheelchair.

Commentary

Editorial: Outside inquiry into jail is a good step
The panel needs to explore not only what happened but how and why, and what needs to be changed in the agency's culture or training.
Editorial: Abuse of suspects indefensible
Deputies do not have a license to rough up people in custody.
Sue Carlton: Let's wait to hear the whole jail story
What I want to understand is why someone with a 22-year career and a personnel file full of attaboys from bosses and the public did what's on that video. Jail culture? Too much time with inmates? Something else? We should wait and watch and see.
Sue Carlton: If there is a defense, the camera missed it
Cops will tell you they're proud of the uniform and the responsibility. But with it comes an amazing amount of power, the kind with potential for abuse.