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RENSSELAER COUNTY---A former corrections officer at the Rensselaer County Jail will spend the next eight years in federal prison for lying to a grand jury about the sexual abuse of female inmates.
David Rohmiller, 36, of Wynantskill, had admitted last spring to making a false declaration to a grand jury, making a false statement to a federal agency and violating a female inmate's rights. He also pleaded guilty last March to two counts of third degree rape of two female inmates between March and September 2005, incidents which occurred while he was working at the jail where he had been employed for five years.
Rohmiller faced a maximum term of 11 years on the federal charges and faces a maximum of 1 1/3 to four years in state prison on each rape count. He will be sentenced on those charges in Rensselaer County Court on Nov. 17. The sentences will run concurrently.
The plea agreement indicates that Rohmiller coerced a female inmate into having intercourse, fondled an inmate, placed over 30 phone calls to former inmates and then lied to authorities.
Rohrmiller will also have to serve three years of postrelease supervision and must register with the state Sex Offender Registry.
The victims were 23 and 29 years old. There were no allegations of forcible rape but rather that he used his position to intimidate them into meeting his demands. An inmate cannot legally consent to sex with a corrections officer.
One of the victims has already served a civil rights suit against Rensselaer County. 11-09-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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