Prosecutor: Ex-guard forced female inmate to perform sex act

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Prosecutors say a former guard at a Pennsylvania county prison forced a female inmate to perform a sex act on him while he stood outside her cell in 2009.

Opening statements got underway Tuesday in the case against 51-year-old George McHale. He’s the first of seven former guards to head to trial on charges of sexually abusing female inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison.

They were charged last February after a grand jury found what it described as a culture of sexual coercion and cover-up at the jail.

McHale faces one count of institutional sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault.

The defense says the victim had a motive to lie because she’s part of civil suit. Lawyer Joseph Toczydlowski says evidence will show McHale didn’t go into the unit where the alleged incident took place at all that week.