A detective testified yesterday that former sergeant Douglas Tower lied to the police about fondling an inmate and then said the acts were consensual.

Tower, 62, is accused of raping and assaulting 13 inmates in 2004 and 2005 when he worked at the all-female Shea Farm halfway house in Concord. His cases will be tried separately, and he is currently facing 10 charges of rape and sexual assault against a 23-year-old woman.

The woman, who was imprisoned on drug and robbery charges, said Tower assaulted her in his office and in the prison's van. The trial at Merrimack County Superior Court is expected to continue until at least tomorrow. The jury does not know that Tower is accused of raping other inmates.

The state wrapped up its case yesterday with testimony from two former inmates and a state police detective. The detective, Steven Puckett, said Tower denied having any contact with his first accuser when the police first questioned him in June 2005. He said he thought the inmates might be trying to set him up.

"He thought maybe he was an easy mark," Puckett said. "He was 'the sarge,' he was the ultimate commander of the halfway house, and they would give it a try."

Tower agreed to take a polygraph test later that week, but he called Puckett the day before the test and asked to meet privately, Puckett said. Tower then told Puckett that he had touched the woman's breasts on one occasion and that he had also "made out" with her in the prison's van. He said the woman had allowed him to kiss her and reach down her pants and that she had taken down her pants and underwear for him. He denied any other contact with her and said he "made a point never to go out with her alone again," Puckett said.

Tower's attorney, Mark Sisti, said Tower never forced himself on the woman. He knew he would be a "trophy" to inmates conspiring against him, Sisti said.

"Inmates sometimes set people up inside that facility," Sisti said. "They look for somebody that they can compromise. . . . He agreed that that may well have been the case."

In the courtroom, Tower broke into tears when the detective recalled their interviews. Puckett said Tower was an emotional mess when he admitted to touching the woman and said he worried how many women were accusing him.

Tower's accuser, who was not in court yesterday, has said she submitted to his advances because she felt she had no choice. If she ran from him, he could write her up for attempting to escape the facility, she said. Tower also threatened to take away her privileges and hinted that he could easily send her back to the women's prison in Goffstown if she told anyone he had touched her, she said.

Two former inmates testified yesterday that Tower touted his influence at Shea Farm, reminding them that he had been named corrections officer of the year in 2004 and that his word was gold with his supervisors.

When rumors started spreading among inmates at Shea Farm that Tower was sexually involved with some of the women, he called a special house meeting. He said if he caught anyone talking about him having inappropriate contact with inmates, he would have that person sent back to prison, the former inmates testified yesterday. He also said if something happened to an inmate who was gossiping about him, he wouldn't report it, said Cathy Hernandez, a former inmate who lives in Arizona.

Another former inmate, who has also accused Tower of rape and will face him at her own trial, said she was scared after the house meeting.

"If I say anything, I'm going back to Goffstown," she said. "I just wanted to get out on parole and go home."

Both former inmates remembered Tower taking his first accuser out on van rides alone, and both said it was unusual for corrections officer to ride with just one inmate. His accuser says he assaulted her on two different van trips, once reaching into her pants and another time forcing her to perform oral sex on him after he had pulled the van off a dirt road near the halfway house.

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