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| Former Guard to Pay $1.5 For Prison Rape |
| By sltrib.com |
| Published: 02/24/2010 |
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A federal judge has ordered a former prison guard to pay almost $1.5 million to an inmate whom he "brutally and viciously" raped for an hour and a half while she was in shackles. In an order handed down Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said the amount is designed to compensate the victim and to deter future attacks by giving all corrections officers "something to consider before they violate inmates' civil rights by raping them." The award was assessed against Louis James Poleate, who initially was charged with first-degree felony rape in the 2002 attack but pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony rape. He was sentenced to up to five years in prison and was released in 2008 after serving the full term. The decision says Poleate took the inmate -- who was then 19 and serving a sentence for assault by a prisoner -- from her cell at the Utah State Prison in Draper on Sept. 17, 2002, to a secluded gatehouse, where he raped her. The inmate filed a civil lawsuit in 2004 against Poleate and the Department of Corrections, alleging her constitutional rights had been violated. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not identify rape victims. Read More. |
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