FORT WORTH, Texas — A woman formerly incarcerated at Fort Worth’s FMC Carswell, a medical center for federal inmates, alleges a former prison employee repeatedly raped her at the facility.
The woman, identified in court documents only as “Jane Doe,” filed suit this month. Her attorney also represents an El Paso woman who accused the same FMC Carswell employee of raping her while she was incarcerated there.
“This is a place where women inmates come for medical problems,” Randall Kallinen, the attorney, told WFAA Monday. “These are extremely vulnerable people and this happens to them.”
Doe’s suit alleges the employee, a recreation specialist, raped her from mid-May 2021 until July 4, 2021. The suit alleges the man, who’s not been formally charged with any crime, used his position in the prison to draw Doe to isolated areas without cameras.
The suit alleges other prison staff members knew the employee was isolating himself with Doe, but did not intervene. One employee failed to report the man after he acknowledged having an “entanglement” with Doe, court documents allege.
“We’re trying to draw attention to this problem because it is very severe,” Kallinen said.
Kallinen also represents April Lacey, who was incarcerated at FMC Carswell from 2014 through late 2021 and alleged in her lawsuit the same FMC Carswell employee sexually abused her in 2015.
The lawsuit alleges the man was tasked with supervising Lacey and others who were sick with COVID-19 sexually assaulted her twice in late 2020 or early 2021.
“I was there to pay my debt to society and I wasn’t protected by Carswell or the BOP. I was repeatedly raped and abused, and I wasn’t protected, and it was very traumatic,” Lacey said at a previous press conference. “I think that this shouldn’t be a secret any longer…I guess my hope is that something changes and that somebody makes a decision to protect these women.”
Regina Powers, an attorney with the New York-based law firm Beldock, Levin and Hoffman, said this isn't an isolated problem.
“This is not isolated to one correctional staff being responsible," Powers said. "This is an institutional failure.”
A U.S. Senate report found staff abused 22 women in federal custody at FMC Carswell from 2012 to 2022, more than any other U.S. prison during that decade.
“If 22 ladies were brave enough to speak up, I promise it was more like 200 assaults that happened at this facility,” Marci Marie Simmons, community outreach coordinator for Lioness Justice Impacted Women's Alliance. “The problem is these officers have complete power and control over incarcerated women.”
The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Monday the recreation specialist named in the women’s lawsuits is no longer employed by the bureau.
“FBOP strongly condemns all forms of sexually abusive behavior and takes seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody,” the bureau spokesperson said. “All allegations are referred for administrative action or criminal prosecution. We will decline to comment further on matters related to pending litigation, ongoing legal proceedings, or investigations.”
