Ex-prison guard pleads guilty in sex abuse of inmate

DANBURY — A prison guard accused of sexually abusing a female inmate at the Federal Correctional Institute in Danbury has pleaded guilty to a felony charge and lost his job, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Carlos Sanchez, 33, of Middlebury, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a ward on Monday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.

The charge, which stems from two incidents in July and August where Sanchez directed the woman to perform oral sex, carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, according to a release by John Durham, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut.

The FCI in Danbury, made famous by the book and television series “Orange is the New Black,” has been in the headlines for the wrong reason in recent years.

In September, the prison was in the news when two federal Justice Department reports criticized the way female inmates were treated when they were transferred to a Brooklyn prison during a controversial construction project in Danbury.

During the four-year construction project at FCI Danbury, which ended in 2017, female inmates were housed in Brooklyn without adequate sunlight, fresh air and medical care, the Justice Department report said. Part of the problem was the women were only supposed to be in Brooklyn for a few months, but because of construction overruns in Danbury, their stay lasted more than two years.

Members of the National Association of Women Judges visited the Danbury women in Brooklyn and called their treatment “unconscionable,” noting most inmates hadn’t seen daylight in two years.

The female inmates returned to Danbury in 2017.

An investigation into the sex abuse case is continuing by the Justice Department and the FBI.

Sanchez is free on a $50,000 bail. His sentencing date was not available.