Gay Prisoner Behind Rape Accusation Heads Back to Jail
A gay man who alleged that he was forced to perform sex acts for a prison gang while incarcerated at a Texas penitentiary headed back to jail this week.
Roderick Keith Johnson, 37, will spend about 60 days locked up for violating his parole.
Johnson was re-arrested earlier this month when he failed to appear at a hearing over allegations of cocaine use and his failure to attend drug-rehabilitation treatment.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says that Johnson tested positive for cocaine, marijuana and codeine on more than one occasion in the weeks leading up to his civil suit against prison officials who he claimed did not do enough to protect him from the gang.
A court official said Johnson will spend his time in a facility for parole violators and not be returned to the James A Allred Center where the alleged rapes occurred.
During the trial, Johnson testified that he was beaten, repeatedly raped, and his life wasb threatened almost daily at the Allred Unit in Iowa Park, Texas where he was incarcerated on a petty theft conviction.
Johnson testified that despite numerous requests to be transferred to a secure area of the prison, officials ignored his pleas for help.
The Texas attorney general’s office, which represented the defendants, argued that there was no evidence Johnson was raped and told jurors that he changed his stories. The defense said that Johnson wanted to be moved to a “safekeeping” area because” his lover and other love interests were there.” In October, a jury rejected Johnson’s claims.
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