Five inmates of the Grant County jail have been indicted for assaulting and sodomizing a Northern Kentucky teen, allegedly with the blessing of the jail guard. The young man was arrested for trying to outrun a trooper at 90 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone. That was a stupid and dangerous thing to do, but no untried, first-time prisoner should be put in a cell with a group of convicted felons. Three of the five charged are overflow state prisoners, transferred to the county jail because of overcrowding at Kentucky prisons. The 125-pound, 18-year-old teen was attacked minutes after being put in cell 101.

It is inexcusable that Grant County jailers did not separate the boy from a cell with convicted felons. The grand jury declined to indict any of the guards, and Grant County Commonwealth's Attorney James Crawford said he will not pursue charges against the jail staff unless new evidence is uncovered. State and federal authorities should investigate.

Two inmates not involved in the attack reported in the Kentucky State Police's 75-page investigation record that the guard who locked up the teen told inmates to "take care of my boy" and winked after remarking they were getting "fresh meat." The teen's civil lawsuit against the county claims guards were negligent in not protecting him.

The teen's attorney said his client's traffic violations were resolved in District Court with payment of a $100 fine.

Grant County doesn't have the excuse of an old, outdated prison. Its $7.5 million, 300-bed jail opened in May 2000. Kentucky regulations require that county jails segregate inmates - juveniles from adults, females from males, mentally ill and chemically dependent from the general jail population. Other regulations require that a jail must segregate prisoners likely to be harmed from prisoners likely to harm others. It's the responsibility of any jailer to separate those who have been convicted and sentenced from anyone who has yet to appear before a judge. Under U.S. law, the untried are still supposed to be presumed innocent.

The indicted inmates, if guilty, should get longer jail terms, and the county should root out guards and jail practices that allow vicious inmates to prey on the vulnerable.