Juvenile Hall Guard Acquitted of Assault

A fired juvenile hall guard was acquitted of assaulting a 16-year-old inmate but she will not get her job back, officials said.

Patricia Sharpe, 37, had been charged with felony abuse of authority in August after a 16-year-old inmate complained that Sharpe punched her in the nose while she was handcuffed two months earlier.

The inmate did not need medical attention but was released from custody because of the incident.

Sharpe, an Oxnard resident, had served four years as a guard at the Clifton Tatum Center before her firing over the incident.

Agency officials said Sharpe will not get her job back even with the acquittal but that she is still entitled to appeal the firing to an administrative law judge.

Sharpe testified that the inmate became irate because she was confined to her cell for 48 hours after she cut a class. Sharpe said the girl used racial slurs and spit on her before trying to get up from a chair when Sharpe struck her.

The jury took more than a day to deliberate the case.