For much of her 11 months in the prison, Baker faced retaliation for reporting her abuser. She was denied visits with her family; her phone and commissary access were cut off; she was barred from speaking with her lawyer.
She was also forced to return to the medical office and interact with the officer who she said had assaulted her to receive necessary care or medications. She said the final words he spoke to her, the day before she was scheduled for early release, were: “he knew where I lived, and he would be up to have a drink with me at some point.”
“My release was canceled the next morning,” Baker said.
More than 100 women have come forward with experiences like Baker’s since a 2021 Associated Press investigation revealed that the facility, dubbed the “rape club” by workers and women imprisoned there, had a long history of enabling sexual abuse.
“This is an affirmation that sexual abuse of female prisoners will not be tolerated in this society,” attorney Jessica Pride, who represents plaintiffs in the case, said of this week’s settlement. “The Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice now have 116 million reasons why they will make sure that prisoners will not be sexually abused under their watch.”
In a statement, the Bureau of Prisons said it condemns all sexually abusive behavior and “takes seriously its duty to protect the individuals in [its] custody.”
The bureau “remains committed to rooting out criminal behavior and holding accountable those who violate their oath of office,” the statement continues.
The global settlement was divided among the women based on in-depth interviews with two former judges, who listened to their accounts of abuse and reviewed their treatment records. Individuals received $500,000 to $1.6 million each, Pride said.
The settlement is the latest legal victory for women who were incarcerated at FCI Dublin, which the Bureau of Prisons said this month will close permanently after it was abruptly cleared out and shuttered in April. The women are also in the process of settling a class-action lawsuit aimed at protecting women who remain incarcerated elsewhere.
Eight former FCI Dublin employees, including the warden and chaplain, have been charged with sex crimes since 2021; seven have already been sentenced, and the eighth is set to go to trial in March on 15 charges that could carry a potential life sentence. More than 20 others who have been accused of sexual misconduct and retaliation, including the medical officer Baker said assaulted her, are being investigated, according to Pride.
“It just was top-down, from the warden, the chaplain, safety officers, recycling officers. It just was a pervasive culture,” Baker said.
Many women did not come forward for fear of retaliation. Those who did were often sent to the solitary housing unit or lost privileges, like those taken from Baker. Without adequate mental health care, they struggled to recover from the trauma of their assault.
“Officers carry keys all the time. If you heard the keys coming, there would be your heart — that kind of a heart attack feeling — and just fear because you’re not safe,” Baker said.
In April, shortly after the FBI raided the prison, the BOP appointed a special master to oversee operational changes. Just over a week later, the facility was ordered to close, and more than 600 inmates were transferred to a handful of other federal institutions, many far from their families and legal teams.
