WICHITA COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — A former Wichita County corrections officer accused of mistreating an inmate has been reindicted on a new charge.

Ian McMurtrie is now facing trial for official oppression in a new indictment filed on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

He was first indicted in 2020 for violation of the civil rights of a person in custody. Both charges are Class A misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The alleged violation occurred in March, 2020. After an investigation authorities alleged while working in the jail division, McMurtrie denied an inmate’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by forcing his fingers into the inmate’s nostrils.

The new indictment adds new allegations of abuse: that McMurtrie struck the inmate in the back with his elbows and inserted his fingers into the inmate’s nostrils and “fish hooking” him, assaulted him or struck him with excessive force, pressed the inmate’s face into the concrete floor and twisted his arm.

That inmate was arrested on a charge of resisting arrest and trying to take a weapon from an officer at the hospital on the same date as McMurtrie’s alleged abuse. Affidavits state the inmate grabbed an officer’s taser and pointed it at an officer and also at hospital security.

A separate officer then fired his taser at the suspect, but the suspect continued struggling and was eventually subdued by several officers.

Four counts of aggravated assault against a public servant were also filed but later dismissed.

As the inmate was being booked into jail, Wichita County Sheriff David Duke said the inmate was creating a disturbance, and McMurtrie responded.

Duke said the incident was recorded, and because the abuse was so clear, McMurtrie was quickly placed on suspension and then retired within days.

For some of his 20 years with the Wichita County Sheriff’s Office, Duke said McMurtrie was in the Compliance Division, which ensures the jail stays in compliance with state standards of conditions and treatment.

“Such clear cases of improper actions cannot be tolerated,” Duke said.