Detention Deputy charged with battering inmate

A Monroe County Detention Deputy who works at the Stock Island jail was arrested last Friday for battering an inmate.

The battery incident took place last Thursday as Deputy Kenson Jean Baptiste was removing 19 year old inmate Fernando Concepcion, Jr. from his cell at the main detention facility. According to Investigator Janine Gedmin, a surveillance video shows the officer slammed Concepcion into a phone cage; Concepcion had his hands cuffed in front of him at the time and, according to Investigator Gedmin, he at no time showed signs of physically resisting the officer. The officer then picked the inmate up off the floor and slammed him into the cement wall next to the cage.

The inmate sustained a minor laceration and swelling on his forehead, an injury on his lip and abrasions on his wrists. He was treated for his injuries by the jail medical staff. Jean Baptiste was booked into jail for battery. His bond is set at $2,000.00.

Jean Baptiste is 26 years old; he’s been employed by the Sheriff’s Office as a Corrections Officer since March of 2008. He will now be placed in a position at the Sheriff’s Office that requires no contact with inmates until the outcome of an Internal Affairs Investigation into this incident.