FORT WORTH, Texas — An El Paso woman has filed a lawsuit in federal court this week alleging she was sexually assaulted by employees multiple times while at Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell, a federal medical prison for women in Fort Worth.
The woman, April Lacey, was incarcerated at FMC Carswell from 2014 through late 2021 and alleged in the lawsuit that an employee at FMC Carswell sexually abused her in 2015.
The lawsuit also alleged a former Bureau of Prisons recreation specialist at FMC Carswell tasked with supervising Lacey and others who were sick with COVID-19 sexually assaulted her twice in late 2020 or early 2021.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, names both the U.S. government and the former recreation specialist at Carswell.
“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 Thursday 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.”
Lacey is also represented by Randall Kallinen, a civil rights attorney based in Houston.
According to the lawsuit, Lacey wasn’t the first to report being sexually assaulted at FMC Carswell. FMC Carswell had the highest rate of sexual assault allegations against staff at any federal women’s prison from 2014 to 2018, with at least 35 women at Carswell reporting being sexually assaulted during that time, according to the lawsuit.
Citing the pending litigation, the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment to WFAA about the case but confirmed that the former recreation specialist named in the lawsuit is not employed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
"For privacy, safety, and security reasons, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) does not comment on matters related to pending litigation, ongoing legal proceedings, or ongoing investigations," the Federal Bureau of Prisons told WFAA.
In other news:
