David Bowers, Sheriff's Deputy, Zaps Three Children with Stun Gun at Illinois Youth Shelter, Threatens to Sodomize One Child: Lawsuit

According to a federal civil-rights lawsuit, sheriff's deputy David Bowers allegedly zapped three children with a stun gun at an Illinois emergency youth shelter, while threatening to sodomize one of them before choking a fourth child and throwing her in the closet. Bowers and sheriff's deputy Lonnie Lawler claimed they were unprovoked in the incident at the adolescent center in southern Illinois that houses youths ages 11 to 18, many with behavioral problems.

The suit was filed on July 1st and called the deputies' actions "extreme, outrageous and unjustified," and it does not release the names or ages of the three boys shot with the stun gun. The fourth kid was a foster child who did not live at the center, according to the lawsuit.

The suit claimed that Bowers and sheriff's deputy Lonnie Lawler went to the center near Marion on July 4, 2008 in response to a report that three teenagers were acting unruly. But the young people suing the deputies were not those disruptive children, the lawsuit said.

Bowers allegedly pushed one boy toward his bed, and repeatedly shocked him with a stun gun. Bowers then held down a second boy, stunned him several times and threatened to sodomize him, ultimately causing the child to soil himself, the lawsuit claimed. A third child complied with the deputies' demands that he sit on a couch, but Lawler handcuffed him before Bowers zapped him repeatedly, the lawsuit said.

The fourth child, a girl, pleaded with the deputies to stop but Lawler handcuffed her. Bowers lifted her off the ground, pressed her against a wall and choked her, the lawsuit alleges. Source: Huffington Post

Many people may readily assume these children made this up because they may have behavioral issues, but why are these cops still on the job? Shouldn't they have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation or placed on modified desk duty until this lawsuit has been resolved?