Cincinnati, OH: (Nov-03-07) James Worthington, a former inmate of the Brown County Detention Center, brought a lawsuit against the county, alleging that he received unfair treatment during his stay in jail. Records show that Worthington was arrested in Brown County on charges of raping an adult female in 2003 and was incarcerated at the Brown County Detention Center from April 2003 to March 2004. On Oct. 11, 2005 Worthington filed a class action complaint in United States District Court in Cincinnati in relation to the incident, citing several defendants including Brown County Sheriff Dwayne Wenninger, Deputies Richard Hanley, Tom Ackley and Charles Crawford, four John Does, and the Brown County Commissioners at the time, Kirby Cornett, Perry Ogden and Dale Reynolds.
Worthington and two other inmates who joined in the suit initially sought a judgment for $3 million. He stated that the jail allowed both prisoners and officers to routinely beat him following a verbal incident with a female corrections officer identified in the suit as Hanley's wife. The suit accused the jail of allowing Hanley to physically abuse Worthington on multiple occasions, including in the presence of other corrections officers. As part of a settlement reached, Brown County Commissioners agreed to give Worthington $210,000, dismissing the lawsuit. [
