LOS ANGELES — The beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons said Monday it will close a California women’s prison known as the “rape club” despite efforts to reform the troubled prison after an Associated Press investigation exposed rampant sexual abuse of staff and inmates brought.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters said in a statement to the AP that the agency has “taken unprecedented steps and committed a tremendous amount of resources to address the culture, recruitment and retention, aging infrastructure – and most critically – misconduct of to tackle employees.”
“Despite these steps and resources, we have determined that FCI Dublin is not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility,” Peters said. “This decision is made after continued evaluation of the effectiveness of these unprecedented steps and additional resources.”
The announcement of Dublin’s closure represents an extraordinary admission by the Bureau of Prisons that its promised efforts to improve the culture and environment there have not worked. Many attempts to stem the problems in Dublin have come after the AP investigation revealed a pattern of abuse and mismanagement that lasted years, even decades.
Just ten days before the closure announcement, a federal judge took the unprecedented step of appointing a special captain to oversee the prison.
FCI Dublin, about 21 miles east of Oakland, is one of six women-only federal prisons and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. It currently houses 605 prisoners: 504 prisoners in the main prison and another 101 in an adjacent minimum security camp. That figure is lower than the total of 760 prisoners in February 2022.
The women currently housed at the jail will be moved to other facilities, Peters said, and no employees will lose their jobs.
Advocates have called for the release of prisoners from FCI Dublin, which they say is not only plagued by sexual abuse but also suffers from dangerous mold, asbestos and inadequate health care.
Last August, eight Dublin FCI prisoners sued the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for failing to eradicate sexual abuse. Amaris Montes, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said prisoners continue to face retaliation for reporting abuse, including being placed in solitary confinement and having assets confiscated.
Montes said she and her clients had suspected closure would be a possibility, but the sudden decision so soon after the master’s special appointment came as a shock. “It is a signal that the prison knows that they are not meeting constitutional standards to protect people from sexual assault and sexual harassment,” Montes said Monday.
Montes said the timing for the closure and inmate transfers was still being worked out, but she hoped it would be done in a measured manner.
“I think the BOP is quickly trying to pass the buck and move the buck elsewhere as a way to solve the problem. And that would mean getting people moving quickly, without meeting people’s needs at the moment.” Many of the incarcerated women have physical and mental health issues that need to be addressed, she said, while other inmates may be eligible for release.
Last month, the FBI conducted another search of the prison and the Bureau of Prisons made another leadership shake-up after a guard sent to help rehabilitate the prison was accused of retaliating against a whistleblower inmate. Days later, a federal judge overseeing the lawsuits against the prison said she would appoint a special captain to oversee the prison’s operations.
A 2021 AP investigation found that a culture of abuse and cover-up had existed at the prison for years. That reporting led to increased congressional oversight and commitments from the Bureau of Prisons that it would fix the problems and change the prison culture.
Since 2021, at least eight FCI Dublin employees have been accused of sexually abusing prisoners. Five have pleaded guilty. Two were convicted at trial, including former director Ray Garcia. There is another case pending.
All sexual activity between a prison employee and an inmate is illegal. Correctional officers have substantial power over inmates, controlling every aspect of their lives, from mealtimes to turning off the lights, and there is no scenario in which an inmate can give consent.
Prisoner advocates worry that some of the safety problems at FCI Dublin could persist in the other women’s prisons. Montes said the civil lawsuits will continue despite the impending closure.
“The BOP is the defendant in the case. It is not FCI Dublin,” she said. “And so we believe that this has not been the end of our case – that they still have a responsibility to our clients to keep them safe.”
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Sisak and Balsamo reported from New York. Follow Sisak at x.com/mikesisak and Balsamo at x.com/MikeBalsamo1 and submit confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.