George Efthimiou Was One of Seven Lackawanna County Prison Guards Charged for Using His Position of Authority to Manipulate and Abuse Inmates
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that former Lackawanna County Prison Guard George Efthimiou pleaded to one count of Official Oppression for his role in perpetuating a pervasive culture of institutional abuse of female inmates over many years.
Efthimiou was one of seven guards charged on February 14, 2018 following the Office of Attorney General’s year-long investigation into Lackawanna County prison guards who used their positions of authority to sexually abuse and assault female inmates at the prison. Efthimiou’s conviction will remain on his record for the rest of his life.
Last month, former Lackawanna County Prison Guard Jeffrey Staff was sentenced to nine months’ probation and barred from ever seeking employment in a correctional facility or law enforcement for sexual abuse of an inmate.
Efthimiou was charged for having sexual intercourse on multiple occasions with a Lackawanna County Prison inmate while she was on house arrest. The victim testified that the defendant would come over after his shift at the prison and was in uniform when the sex occurred. When the victim informed the defendant that she wanted to stop having sexual interactions with him, he threatened to have her house arrest revoked. The defendant never carried out his threat.
“This is the second former Lackawanna County Prison guard to admit his role in the institutional sexual abuse of female inmates at the correctional facility,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “My Office is committed to ending the culture of assault that extended for years at the Lackawanna County Prison, and our investigation is ongoing. We believe there may be other victims or witnesses—I’m asking anyone with information about abuse at the prison to call our Special Hotline at 570-846-4074. We want to hear from you.”
The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Simquita Bridges and Deputy Attorney General Rebecca Elo.
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