Ex-guard charged with 95 counts of sexual abuse in California women’s prison

Gregory Rodriguez accused of abusing 13 people over a decade, as advocate say case highlights systemic sexual violence in prisons

A former correctional officer at California's largest women's prison has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting at least 13 incarcerated people over nearly a decade, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Gregory Rodriguez, who worked at the Central California Women's Facility before he retired last year while under investigation, has been charged with 95 counts of sexual abuse, including rape, sodomy, sexual battery and rape under color of authority, the Madera county district attorney's office said, as well as one drug-related charge. The assaults date back to 2014, but mostly occurred in the last two years, prosecutors said.