COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two men were charged with civil rights crimes related to the use of excessive force during their employment with the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.
Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Jeremy C. Mooney, 47, of Piketon, and William Stansberry, Jr., 46, of Chillicothe. That indictment was unsealed today at the defendants’ initial appearances in federal court.
According to the indictment, Mooney and Stansberry violated the victim’s constitutional rights on November 18, 2019, while the victim was in the custody of the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.
Mooney and Stansberry are both charged with crimes related to Mooney’s use of force. According to the indictment, Mooney repeatedly used pepper spray and struck the victim, while the victim was restrained and not posing a threat. The indictment charges that Mooney’s conduct involved the use of a dangerous weapon and resulted in bodily injury.
Stansberry is charged with violating the victim’s constitutional rights by willfully failing to intervene to prevent Mooney’s conduct. The indictment alleges that Stansberry—who held a supervisory position at the sheriff’s office at the time—was aware that Mooney was using unreasonable force and did not intervene, despite having an opportunity to do so.
The incident happened at around 6 a.m. on November 18, 2020, at the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.
In the video, deputy Jeremy Mooney is seen attacking Thomas Friend, 27. Friend had been booked into the jail for misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
According to then-Sheriff Jim Nelson, Friend was spitting on other inmates in the transport van and things escalated from there. He was placed in a restraint chair due to his behavior, the then-Sheriff said.
In the video, you can see Friend is wheeled outside of the jail onto the sidewalk and pepper sprayed by Mooney directly in the face while restrained. Friend became agitated and used his feet to get away from the deputy, and fell backward onto the pavement while still in the restraint chair.
Deputies picked Friend up and took him inside, still in the chair. During that time, Mooney punched Friend 11 times in the face. While punching Friend, the deputy broke his own hand.
When it was brought to the attention of the interim Sheriff, Mooney resigned. Another deputy, Sergeant Bill Stansberry, who was present during the attacks and did not intervene, was suspended for two weeks and demoted to corporal.
The case was initially handled by Nelson, who passed it on to the FBI to investigate. Nelson told the Guardian on Wednesday that he did what was right for the taxpayers.
Stanberrys’s name might sound familiar to Guardian readers. He is one of a few deputies of former Sheriff Charles S. Reader who was accused of borrowing money. Stansberry worked with prosecutors, who brought 16 indictments against Reader. Reader was later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for the corruption.
“We did our investigation and paperwork and turned everything over to the prosecute, and it was his decision to prosecute it himself or pass it onto the DOJ, and he passed it onto the DOJ,” Nelson said. Nelson is now the police chief of Piketon.
If convicted, both men face a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.