NJ cop charged with slapping handcuffed 13-year-old girl

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP — A South Jersey police officer was charged with assault and suspended after slapping a 13-year-old girl twice in the head even though she was already in handcuffs.

John Flinn, 27, struck the girl after she was arrested on March 8, according to Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo.

Body cam footage obtained by CBS Philly shows the girl being restrained as police enter what appears to be an office. The video cuts to the girl face down on a box with her arms behind her back.  Flinn slaps her twice on the side of the head and then pushes her head down as he tells her to "stop resisting."

"I'm not!" she cries out.

The video clip does not show what events led to the slap.

Police referred questions about the case to Colalillo, whose office has not responded to a request for comment.

Flinn was suspended by Gloucester Township Police Chief Harry Earle and charged with simple assault.

Colalillo said the 13-year-old girl was checked over at a hospital and released. She had been cooperating with police, according to Colalillo, who said she was not charged. The prosecutor did not disclose the circumstances of the disturbance.

Mayor David Meyer told NBC Philadelphia that he believed the incident happened at a group home.