New details emerged Monday afternoon about how a female correctional officer at Sierra Conservation Center was kidnapped and raped at gunpoint by an inmate at the state prison in Tuolumne County nearly a year ago.
County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced in a news release that her office filed charges last week against Robert Lawrence Ransom Jr., a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate who has previously been convicted of crimes that include first-degree murder with a firearm.
Ransom is accused of using a Ruger Mini-14 rifle to kidnap and rape the female correctional officer at SCC on Jan. 20 last year.
The officer was identified in the news release, but her name is being withheld by The Union Democrat because of the newspaper’s long-standing policy against identifying victims of sexual assault unless they specifically ask to be identified.
Details about what exactly transpired, including how Ransom obtained the rifle, were not provided in the release. The case is being prosecuted by Jenecke, who said she will not be making additional comments on the case.
Ransom is scheduled for an arraignment Feb. 10 in Tuolumne County Superior Court on 11 felony charges, including armed kidnapping to commit a sex offense, forcible rape at gunpoint, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, false imprisonment by violence, and criminal threats.
If convicted, the release stated, Ransom would be eligible for a variety of sentencing enhancements based on his seven felony convictions out of Los Angeles County for serious or violent crimes that include first-degree murder with a firearm, first-degree attempted murder, robbery, carjacking and assault with a firearm.
The Union Democrat previously reported on Jan. 25 last year that the CDCR confirmed a prison employee at SCC had been hospitalized after being assaulted by an inmate on Jan. 20, after the newspaper followed up on an anonymous tip about a female SCC employee having possibly been raped by an inmate during an escape attempt.
Terri Hardy, the CDCR’s acting press secretary at the time, provided a brief statement to The Union Democrat that confirmed they were investigating an assault by an inmate on an employee at the prison, though it did not state the employee’s gender or offer any additional details about what happened.
Hardy’s statement said the employee had been treated and released from the hospital, the inmate had been placed in restricted housing while under investigation, and the state Office of Inspector General had been notified about the incident.
Potential charges and referral to the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office would be determined by the outcome of the investigation, the statement said.
“Due to the ongoing nature of the situation, we are unable to provide further details at this time,” Hardy’s statement concluded. “Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our staff. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this sensitive time.”
Ransom was most recently being held at the California State Prison in Sacramento, according to the CDCR’s online inmate locator, which listed his eligible parole date as March 2034.
The CDCR’s website states that the primary mission of Sierra Conservation Center, located at 5100 O’Byrnes Ferry Road west of Jamestown, is to provide housing, programs and services for minimum- to medium-security inmates. It’s also responsible for training and placement in the agency’s fire camp program.
See original article by Alex MacLean from The Union Democrat here: https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_6e18c730-d213-11ef-8d93-af7a5d03be0e.html