The assaulted occurred at the Milhaven Institution in Bath, Ontario (Canada)

Per Lewis, during re-entering the facility in November 2012, a female guard demanded to strip search. Lewis requested that the search be conducted by a male guard (normal prison protocol). Ignoring the request, several guards assaulted Lewis. Punching, kicking, firing pepper spray and utilized a banned headlock technique on him.

Lewis is now pushing for criminal charges to be levied against all guards. He will be represented by Sylvia Bordelais and is supported by two prisoners rights groups (The Toronto Prisoner’s Rights Project(https://www.torontoprisonersrightsproject.org/), Anti-Carceral Group(https://www.noprisons.ca/))

The OPP have released the following statement: “We have been made aware of the allegations and are in the preliminary stages of reviewing the material that has been provided. The OPP cannot comment on details of this matter or whether an investigation will be initiated.”

Millhaven Institution is a maximum security prison located in Bath, Ontario. Approximately 500 inmates are incarcerated at Millhaven. Opened in 1971, Millhaven was originally built to replace Ontario’s other aging maximum security prison, Kingston Penitentiary in Kingston Ontario.