California prison officials have failed to protect incarcerated women from sexual abuse and harassment by staff for years, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a new report.
The Justice Department began investigating the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino nearly two years ago after hundreds of incarcerated women filed legal claims alleging sexual exploitation by staff and an officer was arrested for sexually abusing at least 22 women.
The department reviewed 350 allegations of sexual misconduct, interviewed prisoners and looked at body-worn camera footage.
In a report released Thursday, investigators said they found an “unbroken pattern” of staff sexual assault dating back over 20 years at California’s two women’s prisons. The department concluded that prison officials knew women faced a substantial risk of sexual abuse but failed to adequately protect them.
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