US DOJ finds ‘unbroken pattern’ of sexual abuse by California prison staff

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.

Investigators pointed to gaps in surveillance camera coverage, a lack of confidential reporting options, inadequate investigations and failures to hold staff accountable — systemic problems the DOJ said amount to “deliberate indifference” and violate incarcerated women’s constitutional rights.

“None of this should be surprising to CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation), none of it should be surprising to the Legislature,” said Amika Mota, executive director of the prison advocacy organization Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition. Survivors have spent years speaking out at “hearings, in town halls, in reports,” she said, trying to get officials to address sexual abuse by prison staff.

State prison officials say they have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault by staff, and that they have taken steps to improve reporting options and expand the use of cameras. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Young said those reforms have not fixed the underlying problems.

“Women were not being protected,” Young said in an interview with KQED. “It was the cycle that’s continuing to happen.”

At the prison in Chowchilla, federal investigators found blind spots around its plant operations area and in prison kitchens. Women at both prisons told investigators that kitchen storage rooms without cameras are known as “sugar rooms,” because sugar is stored there and because sexual activity can occur there without detection. Investigators also found abandoned buildings where abuse had occurred.

“Things like that were extremely concerning,” Young said. 

The report also found correctional officers failed to properly use body-worn cameras, at times turning them off in violation of prison policy. The report pointed out that only correctional officers are required to wear body cameras, despite confirmed cases of sexual misconduct by other staff, including a cook, mental health counselor and work-program staff.

The report details several cases where the state confirmed allegations of sexual assault.

Guard accused of abusing dozens of women

Former correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez was accused of sexually abusing dozens of women at the Chowchilla prison over a decade. California’s corrections department substantiated allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with 21 incarcerated women. Federal investigators said they became aware of more than 65 alleged victims of Rodriguez.

Some women reported that Rodriguez assaulted them in a parole hearing room that did not have cameras. In 2023, the Madera County district attorney charged Rodriguez with 97 criminal counts involving 13 women. He was convicted last year on 64 counts and sentenced to 224 years in prison.

At the California Institution for Women, the report points to cases dating back more than a decade, including correctional officers who were convicted or disciplined for sexually abusing incarcerated women.

The hundreds of allegations reviewed by federal investigators likely capture only a portion of the abuse, according to Mota. While she said reporting increased in recent years as more survivors began speaking out, many cases still go unreported for fear of retaliation.

The report underscored those fears, finding that the system meant to allow incarcerated women to report sexual assault was not truly confidential.

Written grievances, known as 602s, are scanned into an online system accessible to staff at the prisons. In one case, the corrections department found that an officer improperly accessed the files of 11 incarcerated women. Nine had accused him of sexual misconduct.

Women described officers issuing disciplinary violations, searching their cells, taking their property and restricting privileges after complaints were made. 

Some women said they waited until they were released, transferred to another prison or retained an attorney before reporting alleged abuse. 

Settlement after prison use-of-force

The federal report also concluded that an August 2024 mass use-of-force incident at the women’s prison in Chowchilla was retaliation for women reporting staff sexual abuse. Young said federal investigators spent significant time interviewing women and reviewing files related to the incident, which resulted in injuries ranging from seizures to blindness. 

The corrections department reached a $1.9 million settlement in April with 13 women injured during the incident. Its investigators imposed termination, retraining and other corrective actions after concluding that 41 employees violated department policy.

Federal investigators found cases in which potential DNA evidence wasn’t tested, accused staff or witnesses weren’t interviewed, and investigations stretched on for months or even years. In one case, the investigation took so long that the corrections department missed its one-year deadline to discipline the officer. 

And the state’s Office of the Inspector General of prisons found that 86% of the corrections department’s disciplinary and criminal investigations reviewed during the first half of 2025 were either “inadequate” or “needs improvement,” according to the report. 

Young said investigators found that, even when women made credible allegations of sexual abuse, investigations could stall for over a year and sometimes ended without substantiation of the allegations, even when parts of their accounts were corroborated.

In a written statement, the corrections department said it takes “every allegation seriously” and “remains dedicated to ensuring accountability, strengthening protections, and maintaining institutions that ensure the personal safety of all individuals.” The department also cited audits under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which found both prisons met all 45 standards evaluated.

‘A turning point’

The Justice Department is requiring California to better protect prisoners from staff sexual abuse by expanding camera coverage, requiring broader use of body-worn cameras, establishing confidential reporting options independent of the agency, and strengthening investigations and protections against retaliation.

“The state must confront the persistent failure of its own employees to prevent and address sexual abuse at these facilities and the systemic breakdowns that have permitted these conditions to persist,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said in a statement. “This report should serve as a turning point.”

The corrections department said in a statement the agency looks forward to working with the Department of Justice “regarding their recommendations.”

The Justice Department also called for penalties, including possible termination, for staff who improperly share information about grievances, and meaningful consequences for staff found to have retaliated against people who report sexual abuse.

The department said the U.S. attorney general could sue the state in 49 days if California fails to act.

Antoinette Yancey, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility, said she hopes the federal findings lead to real accountability.

“Some of us are in here for far less than what has been done to us, doing life sentences and decades’ worth of time, while we’re also being preyed upon,” Yancey said. “And it’s just not fair.”

This reporting was possible in part by funding from the Poynter Institute.