Prison warden accused of running 'rape club' is found guilty

2022-12-08

Warden of California women’s prison where Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman served time is found GUILTY of running ‘rape club’ – and now faces up to 15 years behind bars

Ray Garcia was found guilty of eight charges and faces up to 15 years in prison
He was among five workers charged with abusing inmates at the federal correctional institution in Dublin, California, and the first to go to trial
Garcia, 55, retired from his post last year after the FBI found nude photos of inmates on his government-issued phone
During his trial, he tried to claim he’d snapped the shots by accident
He was charged with abusing three inmates between December 2019 and July 2021
Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin both served time in Dublin over the varsity blues scandal, although were not connected to the assaults

The former warden of a federal women’s prison in California where both Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were jailed over the college admissions scandal has been found guilty of running a ‘rape club’.

Ray Garcia was found guilty of eight charges and now faces up to 15 years in prison. He sexually assaulted female inmates and made some pose naked in their cells.

Garcia was among five workers charged with assaulting inmates at the federal correctional institution in Dublin, California, and the first to go to trial.

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin both served time in Dublin over the varsity blues scandal, although they’re not connected to the allegations made against Garcia.

Garcia, 55, retired from his post last year after the FBI found nude photos of inmates on his government-issued phone. During his trial, he tried to claim the photos had been taken by accident.

Garcia was charged with abusing three inmates between December 2019 and July 2021.

Ray J. Garcia leaves the Federal Courthouse in Oakland on November 28. He was among five workers charged with assaulting inmates at the federal correctional institution in Dublin. He was found guilty on Thursday and now faces up to 15 years in prison

Garcia, pictured entering the courthouse in Oakland for his trial in November, sexually assaulted female inmates and made some pose naked in their cells

Prosecutors argued at trial that Garcia´s abusive conduct followed a pattern that started with compliments, flattery and promises of transfers to lower security prisons, and escalated to sexual assault.

An Associated Press investigation in February revealed a culture of abuse and cover-up that had persisted for years at the prison, about 21 miles (34 kilometers) east of Oakland. That reporting led to increased scrutiny from Congress and pledges from the federal Bureau of Prisons that it would fix problems and change the culture at the prison.

The trial has called into question the Bureau of Prisons´ handling of sexual abuse complaints from inmates against staff and the vetting process for the people it chooses to run its prisons.

All sexual activity between a prison worker and an inmate is illegal. Correctional employees enjoy substantial power over inmates, controlling every aspect of their lives from mealtime to lights out, and there is no scenario in which an inmate can give consent.

Garcia was in charge of staff and inmate training on reporting abuse and complying with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act at the same time he was committing abuse, prosecutors say, and some inmates say they were sent to solitary confinement or other prisons for accusing employees of abuse.

Prosecutors say Garcia tried to keep his victims quiet with promises that he´d help them get early release. He allegedly told one victim he was ‘close friends’ with the prison official responsible for investigating staff misconduct and couldn’t be fired. According to an indictment, he said he liked to cavort with inmates because, given their lack of power, they couldn’t ‘ruin him.’

Felicity Huffman (left) and Lori Loughlin (right) both spent time at Dublin over the varsity blues scandal, although there’s no link between either woman and Garcia’s abuse

Garcia is also accused of ordering inmates to strip naked for him as he made his rounds and of lying to federal agents who asked him if he had ever asked inmates to undress for him or had inappropriately touched a female inmate.

‘We see inmates dressing and stuff … and if they’re undressing, I’ve already looked,’ Garcia told the FBI in July 2021, according to court records. ‘I don’t, like, schedule a time like, `You be undressed, and I’ll be there.´’

Garcia was placed on administrative leave before retiring. He was arrested in September 2021.

Last month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco directed federal prosecutors across the U.S. to ‘consider the full array of statutes,’ including the federal Violence Against Women Act in cases involving Bureau of Prisons employees who are accused of sexual misconduct.

In those cases, Monaco said prosecutors should consider asking judges for sentences that go beyond the federal guidelines if the sentence recommended in the guidelines isn´t ‘fair and proportional to the seriousness of the offenses.’

Of the four other Dublin workers charged with abusing inmates, three have pleaded guilty and one is scheduled to stand trial next year. James Theodore Highhouse, the prison´s chaplain, is appealing his seven-year prison sentence, arguing that it was excessive because it was more than double the recommended punishment in federal sentencing guidelines.

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