Prison Guard Assaulted Transgender Inmate and Others, Says D.A.

A Pittsburgh prison guard has been arrested and charged with sexually or physically assaulting over 20 inmates, including a transgender woman.

The Associated Press reports that Harry Nicoletti, 60, faces 92 criminal charges, including "several counts each of institutional sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and official oppression -- which amounts to covering up the crimes or allegedly threatening others to do so."

The complaint states that one victim was a transgender woman, who Nicoletti reportedly fondled and raped while spewing sexual and racial epithets, including calling her a "weird freaky monkey."

In addition, Nicoletti is a defendant in two civil lawsuits filed by prisoners alleging the "systematic abuse of inmates -- especially those convicted of child-sex crimes, or believed to be homosexual." The lawsuits claim the assaults occurred over the past two years in the institution's F block, where new prisoners are taken for medical testing and supplies before being moved to permanent cells.

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