| A federal jury convicted the Sheriff of Franklin County, Arkansas Monday on two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Anthony Boen, 51, of Ozark, used unreasonable force to punish pretrial detainees on two separate occasions. On Dec. 3, 2018, Boen struck a detainee multiple times in the head with a closed fist while the detainee was sitting on the floor and shackled to a bench inside the Franklin County Jail. On Nov. 21, 2018, Boen slammed a detainee onto the floor and ripped his hair during an interrogation. Both detainees suffered bodily injury as a result of Boen’s actions. “Anthony Boen swore an oath to support the United States Constitution and the State of Arkansas Constitution,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas. “His actions clearly violated not only the civil rights of these individuals but also the trust of the people of Franklin County. Cases like this are very important to our office because they involve the most personal and basic of civil rights: the rights to be protected and unharmed while in the custody of law enforcement officers.” Brandon Carter, the lead attorney for the federal government, said Kevin Hutchison, a deputy with about 20 years of law enforcement experience, and Travis Ball, a deputy with about 10 years of law enforcement experience, witnessed the event. The FBI investigated the case. |