California jail guard indicted for sex assaults on inmates

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — A California correctional officer was indicted Thursday on multiple counts of sexually assaulting female inmates at the San Joaquin County Jail, just months after another officer at the same facility was convicted of rape and other sexual assaults on inmates.

The San Joaquin district attorney said Alex Tafoya was arraigned on charges that include oral copulation by force, sexual penetration by force, false imprisonment by violence, fraud or deceit and assault by a police officer.

Tafoya’s indictment by a federal grand jury comes after another officer at the San Joaquin County Jail, Zachary Simmons, was convicted in October of sexually assaulting multiple female inmates.