NEW CITY – A Rockland County Jail corrections officer has been indicted on charges of two counts of attempted assault, official misconduct and other charges for allegedly dropping a laxative pill into a female coworker’s cup of coffee while on duty.
Russell Thorne, 63, of Greenwood Lake, was also charged with prison contraband, obstructing governmental administration and criminal tampering.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh II said that on February 17, 2016, the victim reported to work as a corrections officer and during her shift, she stepped away from her coffee cup.
While away from the cup, Thorne, also on duty, approached her cut and put a small object, later identified as a laxative pill, into the cup.
When the victim returned and took a sip, she felt a small hard object in her mouth, spit it out and found it to be a pill.
Thorne was arrested on the same day by sheriff’s deputies.
Walsh called the allegations serious and said the alleged conduct “is not a prank or poor judgment; it is an act of humiliation, violence and exploitation.”
Walsh said, “women, our spouses, mothers and daughters who serve in law enforcement and every over occupation have the right to work free from fear from harassment, humiliation and violence.”
He said his office must prosecute “any misconduct by correctional staff because ignoring criminal behavior within the walls of the Rockland County Correctional Facility compromises the safety of every decent correctional officer and betrays the public trust.”
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