Warden is ousted as FBI raids California women’s prison known as the ‘rape club’
FBI agents on Monday raided a federal women’s prison in California so plagued by sexual abuse it was known among inmates and workers as the “rape club.” The action coincided with the ouster of the new warden from the federal correctional institution in Dublin.
As FBI agents hauled boxes from inside the Northern California prison, Warden Art Dulgov — just a few months into his tenure — and three other top managers were removed from their positions by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Dulgov and staff are accused of retaliating against an inmate who testified in January in a lawsuit brought by female inmates against the prison, according to a court filing.
The developments are just the latest twist in a years-long scandal surrounding the facility. Since an FBI probe was launched and resulted in arrests in 2021, eight FCI Dublin employees have been charged with sexually abusing inmates. Five of them have pleaded guilty to charges, and two have been convicted by juries. Another employee is slated to go on trial this year.
Last year, former Warden Ray J. Garcia was sentenced to 70 months in prison for sexually abusing incarcerated women and lying to the FBI as part of a cover-up.
Although FBI officials would not specify what triggered Monday’s raid at the prison, a lawyer for the federal government said in a court filing that it came on the heels of the allegations of retaliation against staffers.
According to the filing, the warden transferred an inmate who was a witness in a lawsuit against the prison, violating a judge’s court order that witnesses not be moved without the court’s approval. Two captains and a third administrator were removed from the facility along with the warden.
On Monday, Nancy T. McKinney, a top regional Bureau of Prisons supervisor, was appointed interim warden of Dublin. She is the fourth person to hold the office since Garcia was removed.
BOP officials acknowledged the leadership change, saying, “Recent developments have necessitated new executive employees be installed” at the prison, whose inmates have included Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman after their convictions in the college admissions scandal.
FBI spokeswoman Cameron Polan told The Times that the agency “conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity at that location.” In addition to paperwork, computers were removed from the prison, according to a source familiar with the ongoing probe.
The raid comes as the number of women who have come forward to allege sexual abuse and retaliation in lawsuits against guards and staff has reached 63.