Widespread sexual abuse of women in two California prisons draws federal investigation

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced a civil rights investigation into sexual abuse of women behind bars in two California prisons, citing numerous reports of groping, inappropriate touching and rape by correctional workers.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation violated the rights of women at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino by failing to protect them from sexual abuse by prison staff.

The move comes after dozens of women held at the two prisons in the last two years brought multiple lawsuits against the corrections department, alleging that they were subjected to sexual harassment, molestation and rape by prison staff under the color of authority.

More than 30 current and former correctional officers have been named in the lawsuits, which graphically document allegations of sexual abuse stretching back more than a decade. The complaints also allege that, when they were at their most vulnerable, the women were punished and sometimes abused further for reporting their assailants.

Since 2014, at least 17 correctional officers accused of sexual misconduct in California women’s prisons have been fired, have resigned or retired, according to records. Prison sexual abuse data, however, show few disciplinary consequences for the correctional staff despite hundreds of complaints — with most of the allegations not being sustained.

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“No woman incarcerated in a jail or prison should be subjected to sexual abuse by prison staff who are constitutionally bound to protect them,” said Assistant Atty. Gen. Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Every woman, including those in prison, retains basic civil and constitutional rights and should be treated with dignity and respect. California must ensure that the people it incarcerates are housed in conditions that protect them from sexual abuse.

“Correctional staff at both facilities reportedly sought sexual favors in return for contraband and privileges.” I’ll note that the correctional officers named in these allegations range in rank and have even included the very people responsible for handling complaints of sexual abuse made by women incarcerated at these facilities.”

In a statement responding to the investigation, CDCR Secretary Jeff Macomber said, “Sexual assault is a heinous violation of fundamental human dignity that is not tolerated — under any circumstances — within California’s state prison system. Our department embraces transparency, and we fully welcome the U.S. Department of Justice’s independent investigation.”

Clarke said the investigation will examine reports from hundreds of women of inappropriate touching, groping and forcible rape.

“Sexual abuse and misconduct will not be tolerated in prisons,” said Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney
for the Central District of California.

More than two dozen protesters marched in front of the California Institution For Women in Chino in April 14.

(Mark Boster / For The Times)

“Concern about the physical safety of people inside California women’s prisons is not new,” said Phillip A. Talbert, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California. “Media coverage, state audits, advocates’ efforts and private litigation have sought to draw attention to an issue often unseen by many in the community.”

Clarke said that at this stage, no conclusions have been drawn. However, federal prosecutors painted a dire picture of allegations made by the women California holds in the two prisons.

The federal action comes as a lawsuit accusing a former correctional officer at the Central California Women’s Facility of widespread sexual assaults is slated to go to trial in a California court. Filed on behalf of 21 women incarcerated at the California Institution for Women, the lawsuit included allegations of forcible rape, groping and oral copulation, as well as threats of violence and punishment with abusive conduct, from 2014 to 2020.

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In addition, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed over the last decade making similar accusations against officers at the Central California Women’s Facility, Clarke said.

The legal actions pending against state correctional officers provide a road map of alleged depravity and inaction by prison authorities for federal prosecutors to pursue. For example, a lawsuit accuses a sergeant at the Chino prison of more than 40 often-violent rapes and other sexual misconduct in 2015. And a former officer at the Chowchilla prison, Gregory Rodriguez, awaits trial on 96 counts of sex crimes against nearly a dozen women held there.

Sexual abuse of incarcerated women is a widespread problem in facilities nationwide, with government surveys suggesting that more than 3,500 women are sexually abused by prison and jail workers annually. And it’s a problem in federal prisons as well as state lockups.

In April, the federal Bureau of Prisons closed the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., where more than half a dozen correctional officers and the former warden have either been charged or convicted of sexually abusing female inmates. The prison was so plagued by sexual abuse that it was known among inmates and workers as the “rape club.”