ATLANTA - A former Fulton County detention officer from Austell is accused of pepper-spraying a handcuffed inmate and then writing a false incident report to cover it up.

Authorities indicted 31-year-old Lee M. Hutley on Tuesday on two felony counts of using excessive force against an inmate and one felony charge of writing a false incident report.

He was released on $20,000 bond on Wednesday and is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

Prosecutors say he unnecessarily sprayed the Fulton County inmate, known as J.L. in the indictment, in March 2009. He is also accused of striking the same inmate repeatedly after the inmate was decontaminated from the pepper spray. Prosecutors say he then sought to obstruct the federal investigation into the beating by falsifying records.

Hutley was terminated by the Fulton County Sheriff's Department as a result of the alleged incidents, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, "Under no circumstances can we allow a detention officer to abuse his power to commit violent assaults on an inmate, nor can we stand by and allow that officer to lie about what he has done."