For the third time this year, a corrections officer has been charged with sexual abuse of an incarcerated woman at the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin.
Sexual assault of female inmates is increasingly getting more attention, but not because it's happening more often, Dr. Stephanie Covington, co-director of La Jolla Center for Gender and Justice, told KCBS Radio. Rather it's likely being reported more.
John Bellhouse, 39, safety administrator at FCI Dublin, was charged with one count of sexual abuse of a ward for engaging in sexual touching with an inmate and oral sex on two occasions, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California stated.
"Women being abused in prison has happened for decades," Covington said, adding that corrections personnel and leadership are often the source of the problem. "They've been able to operate undercover in many ways."
A women's correctional facility mimics the dynamics of our culture in terms of power and control and centuries-old predefined gender roles.
"Women are at a greater risk and now you've put them in a locked custodial setting where they have no ability to protect themselves or to leave the environment, and then you have men in control. Why would you not think that there would be abusive behavior?" Covington asked.
In addition to the charges against Bellhouse and two other guards, the facility's warden was also charged with sexual abuse of an inmate in October.
If convicted, Bellhouse faces a 15-year sentence, a three-year term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
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