PROVIDENCE — A former inmate provided harrowing testimony yesterday about an interrogation he said he experienced at the hands of two correctional officers at the Adult Correctional Institutions’ minimum-security unit.

Jose Gonzalez, who was serving a two-year sentence on a drug conviction, accused Capt. Gualter Botas of striking him in the head at least 30 times with a phone book and “smacking” him in the face when Gonzalez called him lieutenant instead of captain.

Gonzalez also testified that Botas ordered him to strip naked in his office and bend over for several minutes. He said Botas threatened to sodomize him and parade him around the prison in handcuffs and announce to the population that he was a “rat.” He said Botas grabbed his genitals and pulled “down real hard.”

He testified that Lt. Kenneth Viveiros and Officer Ernest Spaziano participated in the interrogation and seemed to be enjoying themselves. “They were all laughing like it was a circus or something,” he said.

Gonzalez, who paused several times as he recounted the experience, told the court that he broke down and cried in Botas’ office.

Yesterday, Gonzalez became the fourth former inmate to testify in the abuse trial of Botas and Viveiros. Over the past two weeks, Anthony Romano, Robert Houghton and Matthew Gumkowski all testified that Botas and/or Viveiros struck them while they were questioned about possible infractions they had committed while serving sentences in minimum security.

Botas, 39, of Pawtucket, and Viveiros, 56, of North Providence, are charged with multiple counts of simple assault for incidents at the ACI in 2005 and 2006. Last year, a District Court judge found them, and Spaziano, guilty of assaulting Gonzalez. They appealed the convictions to Superior Court.

Spaziano was tried separately, and a jury found him not guilty. Botas and Viveiros are now on trial for assaulting Gonzalez, Romano, Houghton and Gumkowski.

The three guards have been fired; Spaziano is fighting to get his job back.

All four former inmates have testified that the assaults took place in Botas’ office, and three of them recounted being struck in the head with a phone book.

Gonzalez, under direct examination, spent yesterday afternoon testifying about Feb. 14, 2006, the day he reported to Botas’ office. He said that he knocked on Botas’ door because he wanted to know why officers seized several dozen packets of soup from his living quarters.

He said that Botas struck him as soon as he walked in the office because he mistakenly referred to Botas as “lieutenant.” He said that Viveiros and Spaziano also were there. Once inside, Gonzalez said that Botas told him to sit in a chair directly across from him with his hands on each side of his face.

Gonzalez testified that Botas repeatedly peppered him with questions about drugs and gang activity and pointed questions about a gang leader whom the guards suspected was involved in smuggling contraband into the prison.

He said that he didn’t know anything that could help the guards. As a result, Gonzalez said that Botas struck him at least 30 times with the phone book and Viveiros broke packets of soup over his head. He testified that Spaziano restrained him.

Later in the interrogation, Gonzalez testified that Botas ordered him to take all his clothes off and bend over. He said that the guards made fun of a birth mark on his buttocks and that Botas threatened to sodomize him. He also testified that Botas brandished a black expandable baton and tapped it on his head and arms.

“I’m about to have fun,” Botas said, according to Gonzalez. “You better start talking.”

Afterward, Gonzalez said that Botas told him to get dressed. He said that before he got dressed, the captain grabbed his testicles and pulled “down real hard.” He said that he was ordered to clean up the mess from the emptied soup packets before heading back to his cellblock.

Gonzalez, a diabetic who requires insulin three to four times a day, said that he stopped by the nurse’s office to seek treatment for his aching head. He said that Botas arrived and met with the nurse privately for about two minutes.

He said that Botas emerged from the office and told Gonzalez to get back to his living quarters to face possible disciplinary charges that could land him in segregation for 30 days.

Gonzalez is scheduled to return to the witness stand this morning.

bmalinow@projo.com