Lawsuit Planned Following Violent Attack At Sierra Conservation Center
Jamestown, CA — An inmate at the Sierra Conservation Center outside of Jamestown was charged Monday with several criminal offenses by the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office nearly one year after allegedly holding a correctional officer at gunpoint and sexually assaulting her.
Click here to view an earlier story about the incident.
Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced Monday afternoon that Robert Lawrence Ransom Jr. is charged with 11 felony counts stemming from the January 20, 2024 incident.
He remains incarcerated in state prison and his arraignment on the new charges is scheduled for February 10 at 1:30 pm in Tuolumne County Superior Court.
In a corresponding move on Monday, the victim, Kate Jackson, went public, along with her attorneys, and spoke at a press conference in Sacramento. They announced a planned lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after she was allegedly held captive by Ransom for four hours during the incident, subjecting her to, “severe physical and emotional trauma, including sexual assault.”
They state that Ransom, “managed to conceal clothing that resembled a custodial officer’s uniform, managed to get inside a control booth, gain access to at least one loaded assault rifle and used it to kidnap, corner, and brutally assault” Jackson for four hours.
The attorneys add that CDCR officers conducted multiple ongoing cell checks throughout the four hours, to verify the the prisoner was in his cell, but he was actually in an entirely different location. They say the sergeant who was on duty stated he was “too busy” to fully check the area.
The attorneys argue that Ransom had been incarcerated for “multiple hyper-violent murders” and was transferred to the Sierra Conservation Center, a lower security facility, and designated as a training center for firefighting techniques.
Jackson’s attorneys say the civil lawsuit against CDCR “is the first step toward holding CDCR accountable.”
