Rampant Sex Abuse Allegations At CA Women's Prisons Prompt Probe

CHINO, CA — Federal authorities are investigating two women’s prisons in Southern and Central California following widespread allegations that inmates suffered sexual abuse at the hands of correctional staff at the facilities.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the probe Wednesday of the California Institution for Women in Chino and the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.

“No woman incarcerated in a jail or prison should be subjected to sexual abuse by prison staff who are constitutionally bound to protect them,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release.

“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.”

A civil lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 inmates in Chino alleged rape, groping and violent threats from 2014 to 2020, according to the department.

Women have filed hundreds of private lawsuits in the past two years alleging officers at the Chowchilla facility sexually abused inmates over the last decade, subjecting them to rape and to groping during searches, authorities said. A state trial is set to begin this week involving allegations that a former correctional officer in Chowchilla engaged in widespread sexual assaults, according to the department.

Staff at both facilities are accused of seeking sexual favors in exchange for contraband and privileges, authorities said.

The officers named in the allegations have included those responsible for handling inmate abuse complaints, according to the department.

The latest probe follows the abrupt closure earlier this year of the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin after rampant staff-on-inmate assaults were exposed by an Associated Press investigation. The federal Bureau of Prisons is set to go to trial next year over claims it allowed the environment in which guards abused incarcerated women at the Dublin facility.

Anyone with relevant information about the Chino and Chowchilla investigation is encouraged to contact the justice department at 1-888-392-9490 or Community.CAWomensPrisons@usdoj.gov.