Ohio prison guards put on leave after Ariel Castro suicide

(CBS/AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio prison officials have placed two guards on leave during investigations into the suicide of Cleveland kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro.

PICTURES: Disturbing new photos from inside Castro home

Prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith says the two guards were on duty in the prison unit where Castro hanged himself.

Smith said Tuesday the two are on paid administrative leave until internal investigations by the department and a criminal investigation by the state highway patrol are completed.

Smith says guards Caleb Ackley and Ryan Murphy both joined the agency in 2007 and neither has ever been disciplined.

Tim Shafer, a union official, says the two are being made scapegoats for Castro's suicide.

The 53-year-old Castro hanged himself with a bedsheet September 3 at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, a few weeks into a life sentence for imprisoning three women in his home for a decade.

Complete coverage of the Cleveland kidnapping case on Crimesider