Nobody might have ever thought that music - and in this case the popular children's song "Baby Shark" - could be an instrument of torture.
Two former Oklahoma prison officers and their supervisors have been charged after an inquiry found they punished inmates by forcing them to listen repeatedly to the children's song "Baby Shark" at full volume, officials said.
The inmates were handcuffed to a wall and forced to listen to the song for up to two hours, the Oklahoma County district attorney's office said. The guards subjected the inmates to the "cruel and inhuman" treatment numerous times late last year, officials said.
Christopher Raymond Hendershott, 50, Gregory Butler Jr., 21 and Christian Charles Miles, 21, were all charged with misdemeanor cruelty to a prisoner and conspiracy, court records said. Based on an affidavit, Miles and Butler were accused of orchestrating the punishment and Hendershott is said to have let the two proceed.
It was determined the punishment caused an unwanted emotional strain on the prisoners who were most likely already suffering from "physical stressors."
According to Oklahoma County district attorney David Prater, it was unfortunate he could "not find a felony statute to fit this fact scenario," adding he would have chosen to file "a felony on this kind of behavior," the Miami Herald quoted him as saying.
When the incidents came to light Miles and Butler were suspended and later resigned. Hendershott retired, Insider reported.
This form of punishment could be legally considered as torture. Music played on a loop for hours can result in deep psychological stress and was even used by the agents of the Central Intelligence Agency during the George W. Bush administration, Complex networks reported.
