El Paso woman sues Texas federal prison for alleged repeated sexual assaults by employee

An El Paso woman filed a civil lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, claiming she was repeatedly raped by prison employees as she served her prison sentence.

April Lacey filed the federal lawsuit Dec. 27, claiming she was repeatedly sexually abused by a prison employee while at the Federal Medical Center Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas.

"I have nightmares, panic attacks, anxiety related to that," Lacey said. "It's the legal system. These people work for the federal government and they didn't protect me, so it's taken me a long time to feel safe. I still have nightmares and I'm still working through the trauma."

Lacey was sentenced to the medical center because she was battling cancer at the time, Lacey's attorney Randall Cowen said. Attorneys Regina Powers and David Rankin also are representing Lacey.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons and former Federal Medical Center Carswell correctional recreation specialist Marerllis Nix are defendants in the lawsuit.

Federal Bureau of Prisons officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"For privacy, safety, and security reasons, the Federal Bureau of Prisons does not comment on matters related to pending litigation, ongoing legal proceedings, or ongoing investigations," a spokesman said in an email.

Nix, who resigned from his position in 2021, could not be reached for comment. No attorney is listed in federal court records for Nix.

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While the lawsuit states Lacey was sexually abused by two prison employees, Nix is the only one named as a defendant in the lawsuit. No criminal charges have been filed against Nix, Lacey's attorneys said.

The El Paso Times doesn't name victims of sexual assaults but is using Lacey's name since she wants her story to be told to protect other female inmates who are vulnerable to being sexually abused.

"It's not right for the staff to prey on us," Lacey said. "Being raped was not part of my sentence. I am still living with the pain today. I've found the courage to speak about it and file this lawsuit because I don't want this to keep happening to women at Carswell. I hope someone will protect them."

Lacey was convicted and sentenced to prison in 2013 on a federal gun charge, federal court records show. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was released from prison in August 2022.

The lawsuit does not state any specific monetary relief Lacey is seeking. It asks for a jury to decide on what compensation Lacey should receive.

Prison officials allegedly knew of sexual abuse

Lacey was first raped by a prison employee in 2015, the lawsuit states. She was then allegedly sexually assaulted by Nix twice between December 2020 and January 2021, she claims.

The alleged rape by Nix was when Lacey was sick with COVID-19 and being kept in isolation, the lawsuit states. Nix was supervising Lacey and about 30 other women inmates.

The lawsuit claims Nix told Lacey "she was a 'convict,' and 'convicts' keep their mouth shut."

Nix allegedly was "taking advantage of the power and authority conferred on him, and with express or implicit threat of retaliation if she reported the conduct," the lawsuit states.

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Lacey said she feared further assaults and retaliation if she reported it. The lawsuit adds Federal Bureau of Prisons leaders and staff at the prison knew of the alleged sexual assaults involving Lacey and other women but have taken no action to prevent further incidents.

"I was there to pay my debt to society and I wasn't protected by Carswell or the BOP," Lacey said. "I was repeatedly raped and abused, and I wasn't protected."

Sexual assault by prison employees is a growing concern across the nation, Powers said.

"This is not an isolated problem," Powers said. "This is not isolated to one correctional staff being responsible. This is an institutional failure. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has systemic and rampant sexual abuse in women's prisons. It's their duty to protect the women in custody and instead, many of them are subjecting women to sexual violence and abuse."

The goal of Lacey's lawsuit is to shine a light on sexual abuses suffered by women in prisons across the country, Rankin said.

"It's just tragic to keep hearing these stories again and again and again all across our nation. There's no possibility that the Bureau of Prisons isn't aware of these issues ... the continuing failure of the United States government to actually systemically address this and keep prisoners safe is appalling. People are sentenced to do their time. They need to be able to be kept safe. But the Bureau of Prisons is apparently just incapable of doing that."

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso woman sues federal prison for alleged repeated sexual assaults