Woman raped in WNY prison awarded $600K

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A judge has ordered the state to pay more than $600,000 to an Albany woman who was raped five years ago by a guard at a western New York prison.

The Times Union of Albany reports that the judgment was handed down this week by Court of Claims Judge Philip J. Patti.

Court records say the woman was raped in June 2007 at Albion state prison in Orleans County by Donald Lasker, who was later fired and sentenced to two months of weekends in jail.

The woman was incarcerated for a probation violation on her conviction for unauthorized use of a credit card.

The newspaper reports that an earlier attempted rape was disrupted by a prison sergeant, but no action was taken to discipline Lasker, who had been under investigation for allegedly raping another female inmate.