Prison Guard Convicted of Rape, Kidnapping and Robbery Charges

Walters used his work-issued gun to rob women, force them into sexual acts

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a jury has found Ricardo Walters, 43, of Hempstead, guilty of rape, kidnapping, sexual assault, and robbery charges in connection with a series of early morning attacks, including one on a pregnant woman.

It took a jury less than five hours to convict Walters of Rape in the First Degree, four counts of Robbery in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, four counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Kidnapping and Attempted Kidnapping in the Second Degree. Walters will be sentenced December 19. He faces up to 243 years in prison.

Rice said that Walters, a New York City corrections officer who worked at Rikers Island, would approach women on the street in the early morning hours, display his corrections department-registered handgun and demand money. Once he had robbed them, he would then try to force them into a secluded area where he would sexually assault them.

In addition to robbing and sodomizing a woman in April 2005, Rice said Walters also robbed and sexually abused a pregnant woman in November 2005, and robbed two sisters in November 2006. In that case, Walters entered the car the two women were sitting in, robbed them at gunpoint, and then fled the scene when they refused his order to drive to a secluded area.

Walters was caught on September 9, 2007 when a passing Hempstead police officer saw him try to force a woman into a construction site after robbing her. Walters fled on foot but was eventually caught and identified himself as a law enforcement officer. A police search revealed the money he stole from the victim, which contained a handwritten note with the name of the victim’s sister. A DNA sample taken by police matched a sample taken from the then-unsolved April 2005 sodomy and robbery.

“Mr. Walters is a one-man crime wave,” Rice said. “He preyed on the women of our community and for that he should spend the rest of his life behind bars.Hopefully by refusing to plea bargain with this defendant and convicting him at trial, we have ensured that he will never again see the light of day.”

Bureau Chief Madeline Singas and Assistant District Attorney Theresa Tebbett of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau are handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office. Walters is being represented by Dennis Lemke, Esq.