Former Guard At CA’s Largest Women’s Prison Guilty Of Dozens Of Counts Of Sexual Abuse

Photo credit: Central California Women’s Facility. (2024, November 4). In Wikipedia.

A former correctional officer at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, Gregory Rodriguez, was found guilty of 59 felony counts of sexual abuse in Madera County Superior Court. The convictions affected nine women. Rodriguez was also found guilty of five misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, bringing the total convictions to 64, KQED reported today.

Rodriguez, a 27-year veteran of California’s prison system, worked at CCWF from 2010 to 2022. Reports of his abuse began surfacing in 2014, but according to an investigation by The Guardian, the prison system punished victims instead of reprimanding him. CDCR only launched an investigation in July 2022, during which Rodriguez retired. Survivors began filing civil lawsuits against him later that year, including one settled in October 2023 for $3.7 million.

The trial featured testimony from 13 current and formerly incarcerated women, detailing years of sexual abuse perpetrated by Rodriguez. Survivors described the trial as grueling, with one saying, “I had to tell my story in detail while facing my abuser. It was awful and humiliating.”

Advocates, including Amika Mota of the Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition, expressed relief at the guilty verdict but noted the systemic nature of abuse within California prisons. “We will continue to push for systemic change and to hold the system accountable for permitting and often enabling this kind of abuse,” said Colby Lenz of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.

The Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into CCWF and the California Institution for Women in Chino, evaluating whether the state protects incarcerated individuals from sexual abuse by correctional staff.

There have been rampant allegations of abuse by prison officials at other facilities in California. In January 2023, former CCWF Warden Mike Pallares was moved to another prison after being implicated in sexual harassment and abuse cases. Another facility, FCI Dublin, a federal women’s prison in California, was permanently closed in 2023 following years of sexual abuse by prison employees. This included a high-profile scandal where multiple staff members, including the warden, were convicted of sexually abusing incarcerated women.

Former inmates at FCI Dublin reached a historic $115 million settlement with the Bureau of Prisons.

Advocates have pointed to the closure of FCI Dublin as a stark example of systemic failures to protect incarcerated individuals in the state’s prisons.

Rodriguez’s misconduct involved at least 22 victims identified by CDCR, though advocates believe there are more who have not come forward due to fear of retaliation. Survivors emphasized that the problem extends far beyond one individual, with one stating, “Rodriguez is one bad apple on a tree that’s rotten to its core.”

CDCR spokesperson Terri Hardy said the verdict validates the department’s decision to turn the case over to the Madera County District Attorney. Rodriguez now faces 75 years in prison at sentencing.