Maine Child Assault Suspect Assaulted in Jail

Carmel child assault suspect assaulted, stabbed in jail

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Kevin Bennett | BDN

Scott Peavey appears via video conference at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor on Tuesday in relation to a charge of hitting a toddler in a parked car while at a local hospital.

BANGOR, Maine — A Carmel man who was arrested and charged with assault on a child became a victim of an assault in prison Thursday.

Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross confirmed Friday evening that Scott Peavey, 30, of Carmel was beaten and stabbed Thursday by other inmates in the bathroom/shower area.

“He was attacked by another inmate in a shower stall. He was beaten on the head and stabbed in the abdomen with a pencil,” Ross said. “We have assigned two detectives to investigate and have moved some inmates suspected of involvement in this incident out of his protective unit.”

Ross said the suspected inmates face possible additional charges as well as in-house discipline, depending on the findings of the detectives’ investigation.

“It’s up to the DA as far as whether criminal charges are filed, and up to me as far as in-house discipline,” Ross said. “There are always problems verifying validity of incidents involving inmates in prison, where it’s one’s word against the other.

“But we take incidents like these very seriously. You should be safe in jail and that’s how we look at things in terms of safeguarding inmates’ safety.”

Ross said Peavey’s injuries required immediate medical treatment, but were not life-threatening. Peavey was back in custody Friday at Penobscot County Jail in Bangor.

“He [Peavey] indicated there had been problems with other inmates throughout the week, but he didn’t want to report it for fear of making it worse,” said Ross.

Ross said Peavey remains in the protective custody unit within the jail.

“That doesn’t mean isolation,” Ross said.

Ross said assaults like this one are not common.

“There are very few assaults in our jail,” he said.

Peavey is being held on $3,000 cash bail or $15,000 surety. He was initially being held without bail after being arrested Saturday afternoon and charged with assault on a child under the age of 6, which is a Class C crime carrying a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Peavey was arrested after allegedly hitting a toddler in a car parked outside St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor on Friday afternoon, Jan. 18. Police said a witness reported that Peavey backhanded the female child with “six or seven quick blasts.”

According to a report from Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Tracy Lacher that Superior Court Justice William Anderson read in court Tuesday, the 14-month-old girl suffered “a black eye, black and blue ear, and fat lip” and a treating physician described the injuries as “abusive.”

Peavey is due back in court on March 7.