Former Adams Co. corrections officer charged for allegedly pepper-spraying inmate

• Rachel McDevitt/StateImpact Pennsylvania
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(Harrisburg) — A former midstate corrections officer has been charged with assault for allegedly using pepper spray on an inmate.

Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett has filed charges of simple assault and official oppression against former officer Nicholas John Sekela, of Gettysburg.

In May, the warden of the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex called the State Police to investigate an incident between Sekela and an inmate, Elijah Ezekial Clark-Bream.

Troopers said surveillance video shows Clark-Bream hand-cuffed and calmly standing in a cell block, when Sekela walks up to him shaking a bottle of pepper spray. He then sprays Clark-Bream in the face, twice, causing him to fall down.

Investigators said Clark-Bream told them Sekela didn’t give him any verbal commands before spraying him. He said the effects of the pepper spray lasted two days.

Troopers said they could not reach Sekela for an interview.

An attorney for Sekela was not listed in court documents.