A corrections officer has been charged in Magistrates’ Court with assaulting an inmate at Westgate Correctional Facility.

Rudolph Butterfield, 52, denied causing bodily harm to Aaron Rance-Cariah at the facility, an increased penalty zone, when he appeared in court today.

The Sandys resident allegedly committed the offence on June 28 and chose to keep the case in the lower court.

Magistrate Maria Sofianos adjourned the case to August 10 and released Mr Butterfield on $10,000 bail with a surety until that time.

Mr Butterfield’s bail conditions include not attending Westgate, reporting to Hamilton Police Station twice a week, not contacting Mr Rance-Cariah or any crown witnesses, surrendering travel documents and only contacting the Department of Corrections through his lawyer, Marc Daniels.

A spokesman confirmed that the Department of Corrections is aware of the allegation, which he said is being “treated seriously and is subject to an ongoing internal investigation”.

He added: “As this matter is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

UPDATE: this article has been updated with comments from the Department of Corrections

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