East Bay Federal Women’s Prison Plagued By Sex Abuse To Shut Down

The federal women’s prison in Dublin will close, after a sex abuse scandal resulting in criminal convictions of at least seven former employees of the prison so far.

Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette S. Peters released a statement Monday, saying that over the past several years, the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin “has taken unprecedented steps and provided a tremendous amount of resources” to address problems at the facility, including culture, recruitment and retention, aging infrastructure and employee misconduct.

“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 being made after ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of those unprecedented steps and additional resources.”

Peters said planning for the closure is ongoing and more details will be available as the process continues. She said no employees will lose their jobs.

“The women currently housed at FCI Dublin will be transferred to other facilities, although for safety and security reasons we will not share timing of those transfers,” Peters said. “As we determine placement, each woman will be assessed, and their programming needs will be taken into account. Per policy and practice, we will endeavor to keep them as close to their release locations as possible and ensure that they have access to counsel at their receiving institution.”

Those convicted of abusing prisoners at FCI Dublin include former warden Ray Garcia, who was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to nearly six years in prison for sexually abusing three inmates and lying about it. The group also includes former prison chaplain, James Highhouse, who pleaded guilty in February 2022 and was sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing an inmate from May 2018 to February 2019.

Most recently, Nakie Nunley, 48, of Fairfield, was sentenced last month to six years in federal prison on four counts of sexual abuse of a ward, five counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of making false statements in connection to an investigation into wide-spread sexual abuse.

Nunley abused five women he was assigned to supervise who worked for UNICOR, a trade name for federal prison industries. He admitted that between March 2020 and November 2021, he engaged in sex acts with two prisoners, including having oral and vaginal sex with one victim and digitally penetrating another victim on multiple occasions. He also had sexual contact with three other prisoners.

He also retaliated against prisoners who complained about his conduct, prosecutors said. One victim approached Nunley about his conduct with another prisoner, and he threatened to have her transferred to another facility, where she would lose her job. He also told another victim if she wanted to keep her job at UNICOR, she needed to pull down her underwear and bend over, after which he slapped her buttocks several times.

A U.S. district judge on March 15 ordered the appointment of a special master to oversee the prison, declaring it was a “dysfunctional mess.” The order came four days after the appointment of a new warden and a sweep of the facility by FBI agents.

Rights Behind Bars, the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, and the law firm Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP are representing at least eight alleged abuse survivors and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners in a federal class action lawsuit filed in August 2023 against the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Dublin officials and several individual officers.

Their complaint says “Officers, supervisors, and leadership throughout FCI Dublin were and continue to be aware of the ongoing sexual abuse at the facility, and not only fail to prevent it but also affirmatively take actions that allow abuse to continue. Staff protect their abusive colleagues by failing to investigate claims or respond meaningfully, and by retaliating against those who report abuse … It is this system of protection, conspiracy, and obstruction which allows the ‘rape club’ to continue.”