SALEM, Ore. -- Richard Gillmore, the jogger rapist from Portland who is trying to win parole, has been placed in a protective custody cell at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.

Safety and security led corrections officials to shift Gillmore from the medium-security Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem to the maximum-security penitentiary, Jennifer Black, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, told the Salem Statesman Journal.

Gillmore, 48, was put in a single cell in the penitentiary's Administrative Segregation Unit, also known as protective custody.

The unit holds up to 75 prisoners. It is in a building apart from the penitentiary's general inmate population.

Many prisoners are placed in protective custody because they have been threatened by other inmates or pose other security concerns.

Prison officials declined Thursday to say whether Gillmore had received any threats.

Gillmore was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, Tiffany Edens, in her home in 1986. She has testified at the Oregon parole board hearings against its moves to release him. His request is currently pending before the board.

Gillmore admitted raping six other women and trying to rape another in the Portland area during the late 1970s and early 1980s. But the statute of limitations at the time prohibited prosecution.

Earlier this week, another victim, Danielle Tudor, now 45, told The Oregonian newspaper that Gillmore attacked her at her home in 1979. She said she was inspired to speak out after seeing Edens speak on television.

In another development, the Multnomah County district attorney's office, which also opposes Gillmore's release, made public testimony from three unnamed corrections officers that was submitted to the parole board.

The documents quoted a female corrections officer as telling Deputy District Attorney Russ Ratto and investigator Gary Boek that should Gillmore be released, "I think he'll do more than rape; I think he'll kill."

Last year, the parole board twice approved Gillmore for parole, but his release was blocked after Edens and the Multnomah prosecutors filed a lawsuit. In January, a Marion County judge ordered new hearings, which the board recently conducted.