PROVIDENCE — A former inmate testified yesterday that two former correctional officers physically and verbally assaulted him during an interrogation in the Adult Correctional Institutions minimum-security unit in December 2005.

Robert Houghton, 47, a small-time criminal who has spent the past decade in and out of prison, said that Capt. Gualter Botas struck him in the head at least three times with a phone book, while Lt. Kenneth J. Viveiros called Houghton “an idiot” and leveled three back-handed blows to his head.

The alleged assaults, he said, took place in Botas’ office in minimum security.

Botas, 39, of Pawtucket, is charged with seven counts of simple assault involving Houghton and three other inmates, while Viveiros, 56, of North Providence, is charged with four counts of simple assault involving Houghton and two other inmates.

In the coming months, Botas is expected to stand trial in another inmate-abuse case on charges that he forced another prisoner to taste his own feces. Last year, the state reached a $120,000 settlement with the ex-inmate, Michael Walsh, of East Providence.

In February 2007, a District Court judge found Botas, Viveiros, and Ernest Spaziano, a third correctional officer, guilty of assaulting an inmate who was serving a sentence for a drug conviction. They appealed their convictions to Superior Court. Spaziano, 40, of Burrillville, was found not guilty and he has been trying to get reinstated in his old job at the prison.

Prison officials fired Botas and Viveiros and stopped paying them around the same time the settlement was reached with Walsh.

Yesterday, Houghton spent several hours on the witness stand testifying about his humiliating experience on Dec. 23, 2005. At the time, Houghton said that he was on a work crew that performed maintenance work at the state Department of Labor and Training in Cranston. That morning, Houghton and the other inmates in his crew were told that they would not be reporting to work that day.

Instead, they were brought to “the bubble,” a holding cell in minimum security. Houghton didn’t know why they had been sidetracked from their jobs.

“The bubble is not good,” he said. “You get searched. Anything can happen.”

Houghton said that he was the first inmate to get escorted to Botas’ office. There, he was questioned about a bag with undisclosed contraband that another inmate smuggled into minimum security. He testified that he was directed to sit in the chair across from Botas. He also said that Botas ordered him to place his hands on his cheeks and look directly at him.

Houghton said that Viveiros stood to his right, Spaziano to his left.

Botas, he said, began asking him about the bag and how it got into the prison two days earlier.

Houghton testified that he didn’t know anything about the contraband or how it was brought in. He said the questioning grew tense and Botas slammed a phone book on the top of his head.

At that point, Houghton was visibly upset on the witness stand. Judge Daniel A. Procaccini, sensitive to the ex-inmate’s emotional state, called for a short break for Houghton to regain his composure.

Special Assistant Attorney General Molly K. Cote, the state prosecutor, asked Houghton to describe the blow.

“It definitely got my attention,” he said. “It wasn’t right.”

Houghton said that Botas struck him two more times with the phone book. He said that each blow was followed by a backhand from Viveiros. The former inmate also had a difficult time describing some of the alleged psychological abuse that Botas inflicted. He said that the correctional officer asked him about his late wife and taunted him about details concerning a sexual assault that he had experienced as a boy.

Houghton also said that Botas and Viveiros forced him to watch a Burger King cartoon on his office computer and sing along to a jingle that accompanied the commercial. He said that all three officers laughed and “were getting a kick out of it … that they could take advantage of me.”

Yesterday’s testimony concluded with Olin W. Thompson III, Viveiros’ lawyer, cross-examining Houghton. He pumped him with questions about discrepancies in Houghton’s testimony versus a sworn statement he gave to the state police last year. He also got Houghton to acknowledge that he looked into filing a class-action lawsuit against the correctional officers. That lawsuit has not been filed.

Several times, Houghton got frustrated with the questions and Procaccini intervened, trying to get him to relax and urging him to do his best.

The trial, which continues this morning, is expected to last about three weeks.

bmalinow@projo.com