DA: Sex offender inmate convicted of resisting correctional officers
Sep. 18—A Kern County jury convicted a sex offender inmate of resisting correctional officers with force as they tried to search him at North Kern State Prison in Delano, the District Attorney's office said Monday.
Joseph Smith was found guilty Sept. 11 of two counts of resisting an executive officer in the performance of duty by use of force in the July 9, 2020 incident, the DA's office said in a news release.
The officers tried to search Smith because they suspected he was hiding pills in his pocket. He struck one officer in the face, and punched a second officer in the face who tried to stop the attack, the DA's office said. Smith used his body to resist being handcuffed.
Smith faces a sentence of 50 years to life in prison at his sentencing scheduled for Oct. 10.
The DA's news release stated Smith is serving a 15-years-to-life sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 and committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14 by force, duress or fear.
