SAN FRANCISCO – The US Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into allegations that two California state prisons systematically sexually abused women incarcerated.
Authorities received “substantial support” to open investigations into the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino, the DOJ said in a news release. Both are run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The Department of Corrections said in a statement Wednesday that it does not tolerate sexual abuse in its prisons and that it welcomes the investigation.
The formal investigation was spurred by hundreds of private lawsuits over the past two years alleging that women incarcerated at the Chowchilla prison were raped or otherwise sexually abused, according to the news release. A single lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 women incarcerated at the Chino facility alleges that from 2014 to 2020, correctional officers manipulated and forcibly raped the women, forced them to participate in oral sex and threatened them with violence.
“No woman incarcerated in jail or prison should be sexually abused by prison staff who are constitutionally obligated to protect her,” said Kristen Clark, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
According to the Department of Justice, correctional officers are accused of receiving sexual favors in exchange for restraints and other privileges. It added that some of the accused include prison officials who are responsible for handling complaints of sexual abuse at the facilities.
Jeff Macomber, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in a statement that the department welcomes an independent investigation. “Sexual assault is a gross violation of basic human dignity that is not tolerated – under any circumstances – in California’s state prison system,” he said.
In April, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced to close A women’s prison in Northern California Known as the “rape club”. After an Associated Press investigation uncovered rampant sexual abuse by correctional officers.
Chino is about 35 miles east of Los Angeles. Chowchilla is about 145 miles southeast of San Francisco.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. A hotline operated by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) can put you in touch with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service from here https://www.rainn.org/get-help.
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