Even in a federal system known for chronic sexual abuse, the Alameda County facility stands out.
A former correctional officer at a federal women’s prison in Alameda County was sentenced to 72 months in prison for sexually abusing five inmates, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
The low-security Federal Correctional Facility (FCI) in Dublin, California, has been plagued by scandal following a string of lawsuits and federal investigations alleging a “toxic culture” of sexual abuse and retaliation by correctional officers at all levels.
Nakie Nunley, 48, is the eighth staff member to be charged and the seventh to be sentenced so far in connection with a sweeping federal probe that has also put a former warden and chaplain behind bars for similar crimes. In addition to the five victims he admitted to sexually abusing, Nunley described engaging in sexual acts with two other inmates and lying to investigators in his plea agreement.
“Nakie Nunley egregiously exploited his authority by sexually abusing multiple incarcerated women and then retaliating against those who blew the whistle,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “As today’s sentence shows, the Justice Department will hold accountable officials who abuse their authority to harm those they are sworn to protect — and will not tolerate retaliation against victims.”
Dubbed the “rape club” prison, the California facility is notorious, even within the scandal-plagued federal system. The Justice Department estimates Bureau of Prisons employees sexually abused female prisoners in at least two-thirds of federal prisons from 2002 to 2022.
The Justice Department referenced disturbing details of Nunley’s sexual abuse, as well as how the former officer retaliated against prisoners who complained about his conduct by threatening to have them transferred or have their jobs taken away. All of his victims worked at a call center under his supervision in conjunction with UNICOR, the trade name for prison industries.
In 2022, former FCI Warden Ray J. Garcia was convicted by a jury of sexually abusive conduct against three female victims and sentenced to 70 months in prison; and former chaplain James Highhouse pleaded guilty to sexual assault and lying to authorities and was sentenced to 84 months in prison.
According to federal investigators, Mr. Garcia “oversaw a toxic culture” at FCI Dublin, which, along with a whistleblower report, prompted the probe into widespread sexual misconduct at the prison.
Last year, abuse survivors at FCI filed a class action lawsuit against guards and officials, alleging abuse continued even after earlier charges were filed.
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