Feds to pay $116M settlement to 103 survivors of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin Prison

Feds to pay $116M settlement to 103 survivors of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin Prison a.k.a. rape club

By Lynda Carson - December 18, 2024

In a December 17, 2024, release from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), reportedly the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to a historic $115.8 million settlement on behalf of 103 current and former incarcerated women at FCI Dublin Prison a.k.a. the rape club, being the largest award ever to center on sexual abuse claims by incarcerated people.

According to reports, it was mostly male staff who referred to the now-closed-prison as “the rape club.” In a series of lawsuits filed between September 2022 and July 2024, reportedly the women victims incarcerated at the so-called “rape club,” detailed rampant sexual terror and intimidation that they endured by the guards and employees of FCI Dublin.

That’s right, the women were sexually abused by a former warden Ray Garcia who according to public records is incarcerated at RRM Kansas City https://www.bop.gov/locations/ccm/ckc/ , and chaplain James Theodore Highhouse now incarcerated at FCI Englewood https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/eng/ , and other guards or employees at FCI Dublin who went to prison for sexually abusing the female inmates.

Additionally, reportedly, the lawsuits were filed by individual plaintiffs at FCI Dublin Prison a.k.a. the rape club, with the assistance of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition, the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund and additional other groups.

In part the December 17, 2024, National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) release states, “We were sentenced to prison, we were not sentenced to be assaulted and abused,” said Aimee Chavira who is part of the monetary settlement and a survivor of FCI Dublin. “I hope this settlement will help survivors, like me, as they begin to heal – but money will not repair the harm that BOP did to us, or free survivors who continue to suffer in prison, or bring back survivors who were deported and separated from their families.”

“After I reported my sexual assault by a prison counselor at FCI Dublin, retaliation immediately followed. I was accused of filing a false report. I lost my job at the commissary. Necessary medical treatment was denied—and my incarceration was extended by more than two months,” said Kendra Drysdale, who is part of the class action settlement and a survivor advocate with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and the  Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition. “After my release, I experienced a tough reentry, but I discovered a new sense of purpose when I began working alongside other survivors to fight for system-wide prison reforms. While these settlements mark an important moment, it’s not an endpoint. Now, a door has cracked open—and we must seize this opportunity to make sure that incarcerated people are safe and free from abuse.” 

“It was impossible for survivors to escape the culture of abuse that permeated FCI Dublin,” said attorney Deborah M. Golden, who represents several plaintiffs. “No one was safe. Even those who weren’t assaulted lived in daily terror that it might happen to them at any moment. The brutal trauma that survivors suffered is a searing indictment of our entire prison system’s failure to confront its longstanding abuse crisis. These two settlements offer a measure of justice to the survivors at FCI Dublin, but also sound an urgent alarm to policymakers and politicians to make sure that these significant reforms are fully implemented to stamp out sexual violence in prisons across the U.S.”    

“In the face of enormous power imbalances and devastating reprisals, the women kept reporting the full range of the crimes they experienced—and their courage is astounding,” said  Jennifer Mondino, senior director of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which supported media assistance for the survivors. “Thanks to the survivors and the dedicated attorneys and advocates who fought alongside them, the Bureau of Prisons has been forced to publicly acknowledge its role in perpetuating this systemic abuse. The two settlements now hold the Bureau of Prisons accountable for instituting essential reforms that protect the women behind these lawsuits and offer a blueprint to safeguard people in prisons from abuse.”

Additionally, according to the release it also stated, “As part of the civil agreement, 103 survivors will receive monetary relief in amounts based on their individual claims. Additionally, the separate class action settlement commits the Federal Bureau of Prisons to issue a public acknowledgment to survivors of sexual abuse by staff members at FCI Dublin. It also provides incarcerated women with confidential access to an independent, external monitor, attorneys, and community-based counselors to whom they can report staff sexual abuse, retaliation, and other violations of the settlement agreement.”

Some Sexual Abuse Against Women Occurred In UNICOR At FCI Dublin:

Reportedly UNICOR and the FCI, Dublin women’s prison was in court and the news with the teary eyed crying former sex offender “Unicor / BOP employee” Nakie Nunley, asking for mercy. Nunley was sentenced to six years in prison for his multiple “egregious” depraved sex acts with seven incarcerated women at FYI, Dublin.

That's right, Nakie Nunley is now incarcerated at MCFP Springfield https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/spg/ , for his abusive sexual activities at the rape club.

Reportedly, “Nunley was a UNICOR customer service supervisor for the prison's call desk,” at FCI, Dublin, a women’s prison also known as the “rape club.” There was no mention in the news reports that the judge required Nunley to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

At the time that Nunley abused his victims, he was assigned to supervise prisoners who worked for UNICOR, a trade name for the federal prison industries. All of Nunley’s victims worked at the UNICOR call center at the time he abused them, reportedly.

More about the $116 million settlement, the sexually abused incarcerated women, and FCI Dublin a.k.a. rape club may be found by clicking on the link below…

https://news.google.com/search?q=FCI%20Dublin&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Lynda Carson may be reached at newzland2 [at] gmail.com

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