Judge orders probation for Baltimore correctional officer who slammed a child to the ground

A Baltimore youth correctional officer admitted Thursday to slamming a child to the ground at the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center in 2025 and then lying about it.

Dawaun Gough, 34, pleaded guilty to misconduct in office in Baltimore Circuit Court after agreeing to a deal that called for dropping other charges of assault and false entry into public documents.

Circuit Judge Charles Peters granted Gough probation before judgment, meaning he can avoid a conviction on his record if he completes one year of supervised probation.

Gough was transporting a child within the youth justice center on March 14, 2025, when a confrontation occurred, Assistant State’s Attorney Steven Trostle said in court.

“The defendant picked up the juvenile and slammed him on the ground,” said Trostle, who leads the Public Trust and Police Integrity Unit.

Trostle said Gough wrote a report in which he said the incident happened because he slipped on a rug, but later admitted to an investigator that it was not true.

The prosecutor said his office made exhaustive efforts to reach the child but was unsuccessful. Trostle advocated that Gough be sentenced to a year in jail, all of it suspended, and a year of supervised probation.

Gough’s attorney Stephen Tully asked the judge to impose probation before judgment.

Tully described working in youth corrections as the toughest job in the criminal justice system, saying Gough and his colleagues face a “constant barrage of threats,” including some with specific details about their families and addresses. He downplayed the assault, saying nobody was injured.

The defense attorney said a probation before judgment might allow his client, who graduated from Edmondson-Westside High School and has a 5-month-old child, to keep his job.

“I would think we want to keep this person in the system doing what he’s doing, having learned a lesson,” Tully said.

A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, which operates the youth justice center in Baltimore, did not immediately respond to questions. The facility, located on North Gay Street near Interstate 83, houses an average of 82 children.

This story may be updated.