A Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall counselor has been charged with assault for allegedly punching a boy and slamming his head against the floor earlier this year, county prosecutors announced this week..
Robert Medellin, who has worked as a counselor for about 18 years,was charged with assault by a public official for an April 14 attack inside a juvenile hall building.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, two boys attacked another boy in the common area of the building when Medellin intervened. He took one of the boys, a 17-year-old, to the floor and punched him about a dozen times and slammed his head onto the floor once before handcuffing him.
The attack was caught on videotape, prosecutors said.
The county Probation Department said in a statement that department management contacted the Sheriff's and District Attorney's Offices about the case after learning of it.
“The Probation Department has no tolerance for any abuse of power by its staff,” the department said in its statement. “Any use of excessive force against youth is contrary to the Probation Department's commitment to providing safe and excellent care to our youth.”
Medellin, a resident of Tracy in San Joaquin County, will be arraigned on the charge at a later date.
“two boys attacked another boy in the common area of the building”
Not enough detail in the article, how old was the victim?, did Medellin (18 yrs experience) know the youths involved? …
I would venture the 17 yr old deserved what he got.
An investigation/ the video should help determine that, but I am sure some activists will look to crucify the counselor, and if he didn’t intervene and the victim was severely hurt or killed they would look to crucify the staff anyway.
Let’s wait until we see the video of the entire incident – including the 17-year-old’s assault on the other boy before we jump to a conclusion. And, it would be nice to know the “little lamb’s” criminal history. The officer’s history is important as well.
“He took one of the boys, a 17-year-old, to the floor and punched him about a dozen times and slammed his head onto the floor once before handcuffing him.” — Author
Since handcuffing the little darling was obviously the counselor’s goal, absent compelling video evidence it is impossible to know whether or not a dozen punches and a head slam were necessary. Violent inmates must be stopped and rendered harmless (a fact understood by the inmates themselves). In a facility in which the safety of staff and uninvolved inmates is the mandate, there can be no room for half measures.
What must also be known is what might possibly have happened had the counselor done less than alleged? Would handcuffing have been possible? Also, what might’ve happened had he failed to handcuff the inmate? Would he have irresponsibly made vulnerable others (or himself) to harm?
The only way to get into JV Hall these days is to be a violent offender, so we already know that the 17 year old is a bad actor who is being charged with a violent crime, as well as committing a violent crime when the counselor had to get involved. From the sounds of it, the 17 year old got just a hint of what he deserves. I hope the counselor gets a commendation.
“The attack was caught on videotape, prosecutors said.”
So they know what happened in detail.
A lot of missing information in this article. Is this a big “kid” that punched the staff first? Was the staff by himself with no assistance during the incident? Was the staff given any pepper spray to control the incident? Seems like pepper spray should’ve been available. I’d rather get pepper sprayed than beat up since more severe injuries can occur through physical violence.