Man wins $300,000 after testicle squeeze at New York prison

A former inmate whose testicles were sadistically squeezed by a guard at a New York prison has won a $300,000 settlement from the state of New York. Stephen Lewis, who served two years for narcotics charges, sued the state, four guards and the superintendent of the prison for $5 million, claiming he had been sexually assaulted.

Lewis, 54, accused guard Terry Burroughs of sexually abusing him during a routine "pat-frisk" at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Staten Island. Three female guards, Asia Powell, Cherisse Smith and Deidre Bing were also accused of witnessing the attack and doing nothing. The guards denied the allegation.



Lewis had lost his ID card and was asked by Burroughs where he lost it. When he responded that if he knew the answer, it wouldn't be lost, Burroughs became enraged and called him a "punk a--," Lewis testified. Lewis, who was serving a drug sentence at the time, was ordered up against the wall by Burroughs and roughly patted down.

"His hand went into my drawers and he squeezed my penis and testicles," Lewis said. "I said, 'What are you doing?' and he squeezed me one more time. It felt like maybe you got hit with a baseball or maybe a baseball bat." The pain was so excruciating, Lewis defecated in his pants. A jury had awarded $365,000 to Lewis on Wednesday, but he settled for the lesser amount to avoid years of appeals by the state.