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| Second inmate accused of sexual assault of officer |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/29/2004 |
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A second inmate was indicted last week on a charge of sexually assaulting a female Arizona officer held hostage for 15 days in an armed prison tower. The correctional officer, whose name is being withheld because she is a victim, now says inmate Ricky Wassenaar sexually assaulted her the day the inmates took her hostage. The officer earlier accused just inmate Steven Coy of sexual assault. Coy and Wassenaar took two officers hostage Jan. 18 in a tower at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis in Buckeye. The male officer was released Jan. 24, and the female officer was set free the day the inmates surrendered, Feb. 1. Coy pleaded guilty last Wednesday to raping the female officer and a kitchen worker. He also pleaded guilty to kidnapping, assault and other charges in the hostage case. In addition to the sexual assault charge added last week, Wassenaar faces charges of assault, kidnapping and attempted murder. The female officer decided to come forward with the sexual allegation against Wassenaar after attending Coy's court hearing, according to a state official who spoke with the officer. The state official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. "She has been in counseling, and through the therapy she's been receiving, she's been able to face some of the difficult parts of her captivity," the official said. "When she attended the hearing, this was one of those things that she felt she needed to reveal." The officer acknowledged being propositioned by Wassenaar during earlier interviews with investigators but did not accuse him of sexual assault. The woman shared the new allegation with prosecutors after the hearing, the source said. In a letter Wassenaar sent to the AP this month, he said he "always treated the officers with dignity and respect." He offered "most sincere and deepest apologies" to the female correctional officer and to the kitchen worker raped by Coy and said he didn't know Coy was a convicted rapist. |
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