For the second time in a month, federal prosecutors have charged one in all a number of former regulation enforcement officers accused of sexually abusing feminine inmates at FCI Dublin, court docket paperwork present.
A grand jury indicted John Russell Bellhouse, 39, on fees of sexually abusing two extra girls in jail, bringing his whole variety of victims to a few. Bellhouse now faces two counts of sexual assault of a ward, which carries a most sentence of 15 years, and 4 counts of abusive sexual contact, which carries a most sentence of two years if convicted.
Bellhouse is simply the newest former FCI Dublin worker to face a superseding cost in an ongoing sexual abuse scandal that has resulted in felony fees in opposition to the jail’s former warden, a jail chaplain and several other guards. Former Superintendent Ray J. Garcia was indicted final month on a superseding cost, charging him with extra sexual assault allegations and mendacity to investigators.
Federal prosecutors issued a information launch Thursday that included written statements attributed to the deputy lawyer basic, Northern California’s prime lawyer basic, the inspector basic and the FBI particular agent in cost, stressing the “excessive significance” of inmate security. from hurt, in addition to the Division of Justice’s “zero tolerance” for abuse by jail guards. Nonetheless, a federal court docket submitting two weeks in the past by one alleged sufferer stated the sexual abuse was well-known at Dublin FCI and was allowed to proceed for years.
The lady, who’s suing below an alias to protect her anonymity, claims she was abused by Ross Klinger, one of many former safety guards going through federal fees. The lawsuit names Klinger and Garcia as defendants, alleging that Garcia failed to guard the ladies on the jail, and that he additionally faces fees.
The grievance additionally alleges that corrections officer Sergio Salcedo, who has not been charged with sexual assault, “intimidated” the lady into cooperating with regulation enforcement and advised her she would die in jail, and Klinger threatened to kill her with a pitchfork. When she “fell into despair” and began slicing herself, she was positioned in solitary confinement for 2 weeks, ostensibly for her personal safety.
Thus far, solely one of many guards, James Highhouse, a former guard and jail chaplain, has pleaded responsible and was convicted; U.S. District Decide Haywood Gilliam gave him seven years in federal jail, which Highhouse is interesting. In Highhouse’s sentencing memo, prosecutors stated the abuse started with inappropriate touching and escalated into repeated, common sexual assault.
“The defendant used each his place as a chaplain and (the sufferer’s) religion, citing biblical parables and references to King David and his many wives to justify his actions,” US attorneys wrote within the sentencing temporary.
This girl wrote in a letter concerning the sufferer that she has discovered to forgive Highhouse by way of her non secular religion, however that what occurred “is not going to be forgotten or forgiven.” The opposite girl filed a sufferer affect assertion wherein she stated Highhouse actually “destroyed my life.”
“I do not even go to church anymore due to him. I do not belief the Church and actually, I do not belief anybody due to what he did,” the lady wrote. “I do not imagine the Bureau of Prisons as a result of they did nothing to assist me – even after he was reported he was allowed to remain there and do it to different girls. He used girls in jail and murdered us.