Lungren Calls Guards’ Conduct in Corcoran Rape ‘Intolerable’

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren on Friday said the conduct of five state correctional officers indicted in connection with an inmate rape set up at Corcoran State Prison was “completely intolerable and stains the badges that they wear.”

At a news conference, Lungren cautioned that he does not view the charges brought Thursday by a special Kings County grand jury as a blanket criticism of the state’s huge prison system but as a “righteous” indictment of five individual officers at the prison between Bakersfield and Fresno.

“The indictments should not be taken as a reflection upon correctional officers across the state who perform a difficult and often thankless task,” said Lungren, the Republican candidate for governor.

The charges grow out of the 1993 rape of prisoner Eddie Dillard by an inmate enforcer nicknamed the “Booty Bandit.” The state Department of Corrections and the Kings County district attorney’s office investigated the case last year. The inquiry was dropped when no officers would come forward to talk about the alleged crime.

However, after former guard Roscoe Pondexter gave a firsthand account of the rape to The Times this year, the attorney general’s office convened a special grand jury and subpoenaed him, Dillard and the rapist, Wayne Robertson.

On Thursday, five officers were accused of various charges stemming from the Dillard incident. One of the officers was also charged in a separate case. Lungren said the investigation is continuing.