ALFRED (AP) – Three York County Jail corrections officers have been placed on paid leave pending completion of a state and county investigation of an alleged assault of an inmate.

York County Sheriff Phil Cote said the alleged assault occurred last month and was reported by other corrections

officers.

The inmate, who has since been moved to another facility, was injured, but did not have to be hospitalized, Cote said.

One of the three officers involved, Cote said, was put on leave in connection with the

incident, but there is no allegation that the officer assaulted the inmate.

“We’ve asked the attorney general’s office to conduct a criminal investigation and those two investigations are ongoing, concerning whether the corrections officers followed the correct procedures,” Cote said.

Cote said both investigations would likely be completed in a few weeks.

The sheriff said mistreatment of inmates will not be tolerated.

“When I became sheriff, one of the things we increased was training, including training on the handling of inmates,” Cote said.

“I think if you tend to let the corrections officers abuse or assault inmates then you just set a bad tone of the operation for the entire jail.”

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