The federal correctional facility in Dublin, California, has condoned and covered up employee sexual abuse, according to an Associated Press report Sunday, citing internal statements by the Federal Bureau of Prisons from inmates and former employees detailing instances of abuse .
According to the documents, allegations of abuse against the guards were ignored and some detainees were sentenced to solitary confinement after they came forward.
The guard himself is accused of having nude photos on his cellphone of a detainee he is accused of assaulting, the investigators said. One warden reportedly admitted trying to impregnate female inmates, while another prison officer was accused of placing a female inmate in a work detail with a staff member he accused of raping, and after the employment agency announced that it time to "let the games start."
California's prison culture of abuse was so pervasive that numerous inmates and staff reportedly referred to it as a "rape club."
The allegations at Dublin prison have led to the arrest of four people so far, the AP reported, although many allegations remain to be investigated. The Bureau of Prisons is still investigating much of the more than 400 allegations of staff sexual assault against inmates in 2020, a year in which some of the Dublin allegations emerged. Among the four arrested was former director Ray J. Garcia after a complaint was received by the Justice Department and the FBI.
FCI Dublin became a women's prison in 2012 and currently houses around 750 inmates. Recent former inmates include famous actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, both convicted of fraud related to a college admissions scandal.
A new director, Thahesha Jusino, will take over the Dublin facility this month and has promised a "zero tolerance" policy for sexual abuse.
"A culture of misconduct or actions that do not represent core values at the base of the pyramid will not be tolerated," he said.
