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Published 16:45 07 Oct 2020 GMT
Prison staff in Oklahoma face criminal charges after forcing inmates to repeatedly listen to the widely popular (but hated by parents) children's song 'Baby Shark'.
Five inmates were forced to listen to the song repeatedly on at least five occasions in November and December by Christian Miles and Gregory Butler as well as their former supervisor, Christopher Hendershott.
Per the Independent, Oklahoma County District Court records show that they were all charged on Monday with cruelty to prisoners, corporal punishment to an inmate, and conspiracy.
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The inmates were forced to listen to 'Baby Shark' on repeat as it was played through a computer.
Miles told investigators that 'Baby Shark' was "said to be a joke between Miles and Butler."
David Prater, the Oklahoma County district attorney, said that when the inmates were punished in this way, the three officers had acted "conjointly, willfully and wrongfully" in a "cruel or inhumane manner".
Mr. Prater wrote that playing 'Baby Shark' on repeat put "undue emotional stress on the inmates who were most likely already suffering."
The inmates were not only forced to listen to the children's song on repeat, but their sleep schedules were disrupted, court documents have revealed, with one of them being taken into the room after 3 am and another after 2 am. It's reported that at least four inmates were secured to a wall with their hands cuffed behind them as the song played for hours on a loop and at loud volume.
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Hendershott "failed to properly supervise and discipline" Butler and Miles, the district attorney said, and Butler and Miles were "the subject of numerous inmate complaints that detailed their history of mistreatment," Mr. Prater wrote.
While they have been charged with misdemeanors, Mr. Prater told The Oklahoman newspaper, per the Telegraph, that he "would have preferred filing a felony on this behavior".
"It was unfortunate that I could not find a felony statute to fit this fact scenario," he said.
The three defendants' representation was unclear as of Tuesday night, with Butler and Miles resigning during the internal investigation, and Hendershott retiring, the county sheriff, P D Taylor, told the news outlet.
