Bureau of Prisons continues to evade questions about sexual abuse at Fort Worth prison
Two months after a Star-Telegram investigation uncovered systemic sexual abuse at a Fort Worth federal prison, administrators continue to evade questions regarding the facility, known as FMC Carswell.
A months-long Star-Telegram investigation published on Aug. 26 shed light on misconduct at Federal Medical Center Carswell. The nation’s only medical prison for women, FMC Carswell had the highest rate and number of sexual assault allegations against staff at any federal women’s prison from 2014 to 2018, the Star-Telegram found. In that period, 35 women at Carswell reported they were sexually assaulted by a staff member.
Despite the concerning reports of cover-ups and abuse at Carswell, the Bureau of Prisons continues to evade questions regarding the allegations of systemic abuse. Administrators have declined interview requests, given blanket statements in answer to questions and failed to provide detailed plans about how the Bureau of Prisons intends to address the problems.
Reports of misconduct at the prison continue to be ignored or not addressed in a timely way, said Jennifer Howard, the president of Carswell’s staff union.
“Currently, Management officials are able to operate with impunity, in blatant disregard for federal law, executive orders, judicial orders, and BOP policy,” Howard said in an email this week to the Star-Telegram. “Nothing happens to Management officials for these violations; in fact, they are often moved and promoted, resulting in toxic practices being rewarded and continued within the Agency.”
Director Colette Peters was sworn in as the head of the Bureau of Prisons in August. On Sept. 7, the Star-Telegram requested an interview with Peters regarding abuse at Carswell. Bureau spokesperson Scott Taylor said Peters’ “schedule is very full her first few months, but we can re-visit this request in the future.”
To determine when Peters may be available for an interview, the Star-Telegram requested Peters’ appointment calendar through a Freedom of Information Act request. In response, the agency said the request would take a substantial amount of time because it “must be searched for and collected from a field office.” One month later, the Star-Telegram had not received Peters’ calendar.
On Oct. 11, the Star-Telegram again requested to speak with Peters regarding abuse at Carswell. A spokesperson again said the director’s schedule does not permit an interview at this time.
“However, we recognize the importance of the matter at hand and can re-visit the request in the future,” spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said.
Misconduct continues
During the Star-Telegram’s investigation, women incarcerated or formerly incarcerated at the prison described a culture in which staff abuse or harass women with impunity and reports of sexual assault result in retaliation. One former Carswell staff member said she reported Lt. Luis Curiel for raping women at the prison and was retaliated against by other staff and management. She was ultimately fired and is in the process of filing a whistleblower complaint.
In a separate whistleblower complaint filed in July, the union president at FMC Carswell laid out accusations of “corruption, misconduct and malfeasance,” in regards to general misconduct and violation of policies. Howard said many of those issues, including untimely investigations and retaliation against those who report misconduct, continue at Carswell.
Howard said she personally faced retaliation within days of the union filing a formal grievance with the regional director reporting FMC Carswell management for wrongdoing and misconduct. Management escalated their retaliation against her, she said, after she spoke with the Star-Telegram.
After the Star-Telegram published an article in July about the whistleblower complaint, Howard said, she learned she was under investigation for four charges. One charge was for being “absent without leave” while she was on pre-approved time off for union duties, she said. Howard said she was recently cleared of the charge.
“So many investigations are untimely, in many cases with staff home on paid administrative leave,” Howard said, “yet retaliatory investigations against staff who report misconduct are conducted promptly.”
Meanwhile, women at the prison say they believe sexual abuse continues to occur.
In response to the Star-Telegram’s inquiry about any new assault allegations, Taylor, the Bureau spokesman, said Bureau staff “do not discuss potential allegations of staff misconduct nor do we confirm or deny the existence of a corresponding investigation or whether a specific staff member was disciplined.“
Taylor said the Bureau of Prisons “takes allegations of staff misconduct seriously and, consistent with national policy, refers all allegations for investigation.”
A report released Oct. 12 from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General voiced serious concerns about the way the Bureau of Prisons investigates sexual misconduct allegations. The Bureau of Prisons does not consider the testimony of incarcerated people to be enough on its own to take action against an employee accused of sexual misconduct, according to the report. This increases the likelihood that employees engaging in misconduct “avoid accountability for their actions and remain on staff, thereby posing serious insider threat potential, including the risk of serious harm to inmates,” the report says.
Demand for accountability
In response to the Star-Telegram’s reporting on Carswell, U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey urged the House Committee on the Judiciary to hold a hearing in North Texas to investigate sexual assaults in federal prisons. Veasey sent a letter on Sept. 7 to Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Sheila Jackson Lee, chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. As of Thursday, Nadler and Jackson’s offices had not responded to Star-Telegram inquiries on the status of the hearing request.
Hearings can take months to schedule, but Veasey said the claims at Carswell “must be investigated swiftly.”
I am deeply disturbed by reports that Fort Worth's FMC Carswell prison had the highest number of sexual abuse claims out of all U.S. women's prisons.https://t.co/3amhBS5MTw
— Rep. Marc Veasey (@RepVeasey) August 31, 2022
Veasey has met with personnel from Carswell to investigate misconduct claims, according to Veasey’s deputy chief of staff, Emily Druckman. In addition, Veasey “will continue to work with his colleagues in Congress and the Administration to push for justice for these victims and institutional change,” Druckman said.
Other local leaders have been silent on abuse at Carswell. U.S. Rep Kay Granger’s office has not replied to multiple Star-Telegram inquiries about the reports of abuse in her district.
Other congressional leaders have called for accountability across the agency in response to alleged cover-ups, sexual abuse by staff and administrative retaliation against whistleblowers at facilities across the country.
For example, in September, Peters faced questions from senators at a Senate judiciary hearing about alleged mismanagement and corruption across the bureau. The hearing focused in part on the findings of an Associated Press investigation published in February, which unveiled rampant sexual assault by staff at FCI Dublin, a federal facility in California.
“We recognize the gravity of the alleged misconduct within some of our institutions in recent years,” Peters said in her opening statement at the Sept. 29 hearing. “Employee misconduct is always unacceptable and must never be tolerated.”
Howard said the union would like to see federal and local leaders advocate for oversight, accountability, and transparency from the Bureau of Prisons. Since Peters spoke at the Senate Judiciary Committee, Howard said, the agency has been less combative toward the union and communication has increased. However, she said, “many of the issues at Carswell remain pending, with either limited to no follow-through from the Agency, despite efforts, correspondence, and communication from the Union, and certainly no solutions offered from Warden Smith or the Agency.”
‘Darkest places in the country’
Kevin Ring, the president of the advocacy group FAMM, or Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said Peters seems “like a compassionate and capable leader,” but she alone cannot change the culture within the Bureau of Prisons.
He urged members of Congress to co-sponsor the Federal Prison Oversight Act, a bipartisan bill that would create external oversight of complaints against the Bureau of Prisons. The bill, introduced on Sept. 30, would create an ombudsman office to independently handle investigations into Bureau of Prisons misconduct and set up unannounced and increased inspections of federal facilities.
“Unless they get a system of independent oversight, it’s foolhardy to think that one person is going to change that culture,” Ring said. “The biggest thing she could do to show her commitment is to support oversight and realize that the inspector general could be a friend and not a problem.”
The concept of an independent oversight group has long been called for by advocates — Julie Abbate, national advocacy director of Just Detention International, previously told the Star-Telegram “an ombudsman or an oversight facility” would ensure women have a safe place to report sexual assault.
FAMM also urged the Department of Justice to consider compassionate release for those victimized by sexual violence while in Bureau of Prisons custody. Sexual assault survivors told the Star-Telegram mental health care is lacking in prison — being incarcerated exacerbates their PTSD.
“It’s a really bad environment,” Ring said. “It’s like they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant. And our prisons are the darkest places in the country.”
