Ex-superintendent beaten

9-26-2003 New York:

Convicted pedophile Robert Sigler was viciously attacked by several inmates hours after being moved from Orange County Jail to the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill Wednesday, his lawyer confirmed yesterday.

Sigler, the former superintendent of the Middletown school district, suffered several broken bones in his face and bruising from head to toe from a beating that happened at about noon, William Tendy, his lawyer, said. Injuries around his eye may require surgery, he added.

Tendy said the attack took place after Sigler was placed in a holding cell with 30 other inmates, several who participated in the beating.

Sigler will require further medical treatment, but Tendy said it was too soon to tell if Sigler's injuries would affect his eyesight.

"The way I look at it, someone in the Department of Corrections made a mistake," Tendy said. "There are situations with certain prisoners that they have to be more careful where they're placed. I would think Corrections would be more sensitive to his notoriety."

Sigler declined protective custody when asked upon arrival at Downstate Wednesday, said Linda Foglia, state Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman. There were no staff witnesses to the attack, which is now under investigation, Foglia said.

Sigler was held in protective custody in Orange County Jail from the time he was arrested on Jan. 8 until he was moved Wednesday. He was sentenced Monday to 1ª to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree sodomy, a felony, in connection with his ongoing relationship with a boy, then 14.

"They found out who he was, and they attacked him," Tendy said. "Orange County was smart enough to know this was a situation that should have been avoided."

Jim Flateau, another spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services, argued that Tendy was being "presumptuous" in assuming the attack was prompted solely on Sigler's crime.

"How does [Tendy] know that as a fact? Not every time a child molester is attacked is it because he's a child molester. We have hundreds of child molesters in prison and most, if not all, are in the general population," Flateau said. "The attorney may be looking for headlines but we're looking for facts."

Sigler was taken to Westchester Medical Center by way of a state van. He was released to Downstate's infirmary at about 3 a.m. yesterday. He will be placed in protective custody once admitted to maximum security Elmira Correctional Facility, where he'll serve out his sentence, Foglia said.

"The department has made the decision as a direct result of the incident," Foglia said.

Downstate serves as a reception center for incoming inmates. Once processed and classified, most inmates are moved to other prisons.

Neither Foglia nor Flateau would comment on Sigler's injuries, where he was attacked, who attacked him or how many inmates were involved.

No one has been charged in the beating.

An ugly truth in prison is that child molesters are often the targets of such attacks. ..more.. by Jessica Gardner