A civilian defense specialist who is serving a seven- year prison term for sharing classified national defense secrets with his Chinese national girlfriend is suing the federal government for a beating he claims he took while in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu.

Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 62, pleaded guilty in March 2014 to communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it and for keeping classified documents in his home. A federal judge sentenced Bishop in September 2014 to 87 months in prison.

While awaiting placement and transfer to a federal prison facility, Bishop claims in a lawsuit his lawyer filed Thursday in U.S. District Court that a fellow detainee, Michael Tanouye, assaulted him in the cell they shared at the FDC. According to the lawsuit, the assault occurred Oct. 13, 2014.

Tanouye, 31, was in custody for assaulting a fellow passenger aboard a Japan Airlines flight between Honolulu and Osaka and for attempting to sexually assault another passenger.

Bishop claims in his lawsuit that FDC officials placed Tanouye in his cell and told him to keep an eye on Tanouye because Tanouye was on suicide watch. Bishop says Tanouye beat him, prevented him from reaching the cell’s panic button and stopped the beating only after having him promise not to touch the panic button.

Bishop’s left eye was swollen shut after the beating. The 62-year-old suffered multiple bruises and cuts. The lawsuit seeks damages for pain and injuries Bishop suffered and to cover past and future medical costs.

The U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Elliot Enoki said his office had not yet reviewed the complaint and had no comment. A detention center spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

At the conclusion of a one-day trial, a federal judge acquitted Tanouye in February of the airline assault charges.

According to medical and psychiatric reports prepared by federal prison officials, Tanouye was suffering from a severe mental disease during the airline assaults and was therefore not legally responsible. The FBI says Tanouye’s mother told flight attendants that her son suffered from depression and was on medication.

Bishop claims that a nurse at the FDC told him that Tanouye suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Tanouye is in a Bureau of Prisons medical center in North Carolina for treatment and evaluation of the danger he presents to the community. A court hearing to determine whether he should remain in custody is scheduled for next month.

Bishop is serving his sentence in a low-security correctional facility in Pennsylvania. His projected release date is January 2020.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.