Senior Litigation Counsel Marco A. Palmieri and Deputy Chief Jennifer A. Clarke of the Criminal Divisions Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara D. Ayabe for the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case. And about half of their victims were also white. According to court documents, Mikael Rivera, 45, of Kapolei, Hawaii, was a correctional officer at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu from approximately 2014 to 2018. Highhouse is among five workers charged in the last 14 months with sexually abusing inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, and the first to reach the sentencing phase of his case. Federal prosecutors said Chavez was a food service foreman at Dublin in 2020 when he locked the door to the pantry and fondled an inmate. The charges against Chavez were unsealed Wednesday as members of Congress have urged more scrutiny and investigations into allegations of systemic sexual abuse of inmates by those in power at the prison. Widespread sexual abuse of female inmates continues to plague federal prisons and accountability measures for staff have not contained the scourge of such violence, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General is committed to aggressively investigating allegations of abuse, including sexual abuse, across the BOP.. And even when sexual violence is reported, it may be ignored or handled improperly. The ex-prison worker was the fifth employee at the facility to be charged with sexual abuse of inmates since June 2021. Behind a closed chapel office door inside a federal womens prison in California, a chaplain forced inmates seeking his spiritual guidance to have sex with him, exploiting their faith and their powerlessness behind bars for his own gratification, prosecutors said. He allegedly provided the inmate with earrings, let her use his office phone and engaged in oral sex with her twice, one of those times in the safety office. As soon as Xavier shifted to the jail, the news of his offence was spread among his fellow inmates. They seek damages but do not name a specific dollar amount. See: Arapahoe v. Avalos, U.S.D.C. Approximately 15.7% of inmates are raped in federal prisons. Earlier this year, an Associated Press investigation revealed years of sexual misconduct at FCI Dublin, including allegations against the prison's former warden. In the case of the former warden, Garcia,such "dead spots" in video surveillance were crucial aspects of his case. The charges announced today reflect the Departments commitment to root out sexual misconduct within the BOP and to hold accountable those who illegally exploit their authority.. Since 2000, the Texas prison system has referred nearly 400 cases of staff sex crimes against inmates to prosecutors. "Contraband is the beginning of sexual assault," Peters said on Tuesday, adding that cell phones are often used to coordinate prison crimes between inmates and are a major threat to security. She is scheduled to be released in 2026. 108-79) requires BJS to carry out an annual comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape. Prison and jail staff who sexually abuse inmates rarely face consequences. He was found guilty of all eight charges and faces up to 15 years in prison. Sexual victimization of adult inmates is an ongoing problem in U.S. jails and prisons, with thousands of victims of inmate-on inmate abuse and staff-on-inmate abuse during 2016 through . Sentencing Commission to give inmates the right to directly request a compassionate release ruling from trial judges rather than rely on the bureau. Highhouse, enabled by a toxic culture of abuse and coverups at the prison, warned victims not to report him, telling one of them no one will believe you because youre an inmate, and Im a chaplain," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. The former warden, Ray J. Garcia, was arraigned Wednesday on a superseding indictment charging him with abusing two additional inmates, for a total of seven counts involving three victims. "For 10 minutes they beat me, ripped my clothes. Nationwide, a higher percentage of inmates, 2.9 percent, reported staff sexual misconduct than inmate-on-inmate abuse. . Sexual Violence. Enrique Chavez, a food service foreman, is expected to plead guilty on Sept. 14. In many cases, the perpetrators are prison staff, the very people responsible for keeping inmates safe. The former warden, Ray J. Garcia, was arraigned Wednesday on a superseding indictment charging him with abusing two additional inmates, for a total of seven counts involving three victims. One of the rape victims, identified in the most recent lawsuit as Jane Doe 1, said she contracted genital herpes as a result of the sexual assault. The safety manager, John Russell Bellhouse, 39, has pleaded not guilty to engaging in sexual acts during 2000 with an inmate he called his "girlfriend." Others included the prisons former warden and a chaplain. The B.O.P. "What I can tell you is that when you look at the institutions that you're highlighting -- and you see an institution that has been riveted with cases it's it's hard to explain -- it's hard to understand how systemic changes were not implemented.". A fifth employee at a federal women's prison in California has been indicted on charges stemming from sexual abuse of an inmate. Corrections1 is revolutionizing the way in which the corrections community finds relevant news, He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in November. His trial has been scheduled for November and he faces at least nine years in prison if convicted of all three charges, according to the records. Instead, this chaplain abused his authority and betrayed the public trust.. Why make the standard so high for someone who risks so much retaliation and hardship in making a complaint to begin with?. The agency also added: "It should benoted, a vast majority of misconduct cases have been referred by the BOP. If B.O.P. For years, prisoners rights groups have complained that Bureau of Prisons officials have been reluctant to grant compassionate discharges, even when inmates can provide evidence of a terminal illness or of abuse at the hands of an official entrusted with their welfare. Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters, who was appointed in July, appeared at the hearing and was asked by Ossoff why the bureau hasn't made systemic changes to prevent abuse, given the volume of alleged and corroborated complaints. Chavez was arrested in Arizona and is awaiting transfer to Oakland to face these charges. The whole incident split people into two groups-those who justified what happened with Xavier saying what goes around comes around and those who condemned the brutality happened with Xavier. She said the officer, a captain at the prison, would take her to private areas of the facility to abuse her out of sight of surveillance cameras. Sexual Abuse Prevention. Dust Particles found in Amul Milk True or Fake?). No inmate should ever experience abuse at the hands of Federal Bureau of Prisons employees, said Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG). Sentencing Commission, an independent agency that creates guidelines for federal judges, to carry out a law that gives inmates and their lawyers the right to directly petition courts for compassionate release without having to go through the Bureau of Prisons. Copyright 2023 the bureaus new director, Colette S. Peters. Correctional employees enjoy substantial power over inmates, controlling every aspect of their lives from mealtime to lights out, and there is no scenario in which an inmate can give consent. For these substantiated -and reported -incidents, only about 38% of staffers faced anylegal action. Army veteran Allison Jaslow also is the first LGBTQ leader of a major veterans service organization. The situation at Dublin, which prompted Mr. Ossoff to embark on his panels broader investigation last spring, has also spurred the Justice Department to consider overhauling its policies governing compassionate release for inmates who have been abused. In 2019, Ms. Reynolds took the lonely, terrifying risk of identifying the officer who pressured her for sex and quickly discovered she was one of at least 10 women who had been abused by officers and workers at the facility. Piper Jones Castillo March 2, 2022. "I'm not an activist or someone who's normally -- who would normally use my voice like I am today," Moore told the panel. A gang of 20 prisoners raped and tortured Xavier brutally sending him to the prison hospital where the doctor gave him multiple stitches on injuries of his whole body including his private parts. The high-profile Dublin prison in Northern California, formerly home to well-known actorsand one of the nation's few all-female federal prisons,has come under scrutiny in recent months for alleged systemic abuse. It found that the prison met all 45 standards, but did not exceed any standards. Members of Congress have urged more scrutiny and investigations into allegations of systemic sexual abuse of inmates. Earlier this year, Ossoff led a Senate panel exposing corruption and misconduct at a federal penitentiary in Georgia. This means that, even if survivors "muster sort of an unfathomable courage to" report staff abusers, "in the vast majority of cases, the . I have no trust in the Church and really, I dont trust anyone because of what he did.. In his letter, Mr. Wills encouraged Ms. Chavira to submit a new request upon receipt of a final adjudication of her allegations, without offering further explanation. Federal Correctional Complex Coleman in Florida, where numerous women have said they were abused by prison employees. Ray J. Garcia, 55, of Merced, was accused in 2021 of sexually abusing at least one incarcerated woman at the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, east of San Francisco. Sexual abuse in prisoni is a global human rights crisis. According to BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics), one in five inmates in state prisons report a physical assault by another inmate. Highhouse ruined my life he truly did, one inmate said in a victim impact statement. Last year, an Associated Pressinvestigationrevealed years of sexual misconduct at FCI Dublin. Twenty-eight female prisoners at an Indiana jail claim in two federal lawsuits that they were subjected to a "night of . The charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and no required minimum sentence. None of these six officers was ever prosecuted.. Therefore, it is the policy of Prisons to provide a safe, humane and . Later, other male inmates joined in on terrorizing the women, the suit states. Investigators identified three other prisons where abusers targeted female inmates with relative impunity: the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, the Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn and the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, near Oakland, Calif. A former warden at Dublin, Ray Garcia, was found guilty of seven charges of sexual abuse this month after molesting female inmates and forcing them to pose for nude photographs. Holding a position of power comes with great responsibility. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. BOP employees, including Officer James Townsend, Chaplain Hightower, and Officer Bell, fostered a culture of rampant sexual abuse of prisoners widely referred to as 'the rape club,'" court documents allege, per the outlet. Furthermore, the jail has had prior instances of other staff members being charged with crimes involving inmates, including CO's sexual abuse of inmates in 2005; staff member's smuggling narcotics in 2011; and CO's sexual abuse of inmates in 2016. (May 17), Tami Abdollah is a USA TODAY national correspondent covering inequities in the criminal justice system. If you sweep it under the rug, she said, nothing will change.. SEATTLE A former Washington corrections officer who sexually assaulted four inmates at the city of Forks jail in 2019 is out of prison after completing roughly 13 months of his 20-month sentence. Ray Garcia, 55, was the warden at the Federal Correctional . Another inmate told investigators that she avoided Highhouse after he made suggestive remarks during a counseling session, such as suggesting that the commissary sell sex toys. All rights reserved. The DOJ-OIG is investigating the case with assistance from the FBI. The inmate said that she attempted to report the abuse but that when she did, a prison officer shrugged and reminded her that she would soon be transferring out of Dublin. Copyright 2023 Corrections1. Ms. Monaco has pushed federal prosecutors to crack down on sexual abuse at federal facilities, even though proving such crimes is often time-consuming and difficult. Michael R. Sisak Ms. Peters has said she has begun to consider requests from inmates who have been abused and are not deemed to be threats to the community if they are granted their release. Samantha Cedillo, 31, was charged Wednesday in a warrant in Douglas County with sexual abuse of an inmate. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Klinger, 37,pleaded guilty to three counts in February. "This situation is intolerable," Ossoff said at Tuesday's hearing "Sexual abuse of inmates is a gross abuse of human and constitutional rights and cannot be tolerated by the United States Congress. Highhouse must register as a sex offender once he's released from prison, Gilliam said. identifies important training information, interacts with each other and Linda De La Rosa, formerly incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testifies during the hearing of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations, on Sexual Abuse of Female Inmates in Federal Prisons, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 13, 2022. A former Metropolitan Correctional Center officer who was found guilty of sexually assaulting prisoners earlier this year was hit with a federal suit Friday alleging he abused three more inmates Lerner-Kinglake noted that an overwhelming number of reports are still unsubstantiated, but that given the risks involved in making such a claim against correctional staff, "it just defies logic that only 5% of reports of staff sexual abuse are valid. During her initial testimony, Moore expressed regret for the drug offense that landed her in prison. This statistic shows the percent of U.S. state prison inmates who experienced abuse as a child as of 1999, by sex and type of abuse. ", Tami Abdollah is a USA TODAY national correspondent covering inequities in the criminal justice system. and An incarcerated individual has the right against being pressured by anyone to engage in . Chavez made a decision to abuse his authority and victimize inmates he was responsible for overseeing, FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair said in a statement. The push comes amid new revelations about the extent of abuse of women, and the unwillingness of many prison officials to address a crisis that has long been an open secret in government. He played on my vulnerability and took advantage of me I have nightmares.. Another inmate acted as a "lookout" on at least one of the encounters, according to the complaint. is failing systemically to prevent, detect and address sexual abuse of prisoners by its own employees, said Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat who leads the subcommittee.