Former Bayside State Prison Officer Sentenced to 20 Months for Civil Rights Violations

A Millville man convicted of failing to intervene in assaults on inmates faces prison time and fines.

A former corrections officer at Bayside State Prison, Joshua Hand, 35, of Millville, New Jersey, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for failing to prevent assaults on two inmates and violating their civil rights, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams imposed the sentence at Camden federal court.

The incidents took place in December 2019, according to court records and statements. During the first assault, Hand was in the officers’ quarters within the prison’s kitchen area when several inmates attacked the first victim. The exit door was blocked, and Hand did not intervene as multiple inmates held the victim down, delivering blows to his torso, arms, and legs. Hand did not report the assault to his supervisors or prison medical staff, as required.

Later that day, a second inmate was attacked in the same room by another corrections officer who struck the victim multiple times with a broomstick. Although Hand was within reach and could have intervened, he once again took no action and failed to report the incident.

Judge Williams additionally sentenced Hand to three years of supervised release and imposed a $10,000 fine. The FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado, and the New Jersey Department of Corrections were instrumental in the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Kearney prosecuting the case.