A former correctional officer at the biggest women’s prison in California has been accused of engaging in sexual misconduct against at least 22 women incarcerated there, state prison officials said Wednesday.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it has shared the results of an internal investigation into Gregory Rodriguez, a former officer at the Central California Women’s Facility, with the Madera County District Attorney’s Office. Charges have not yet been filed against Rodriguez, said Dana Simas, spokesperson for the corrections department.
Misconduct at the hands of prison officials “shatters the trust of the public,” Jeff Macomber, the corrections department’s secretary, said in a news release.
“We are continuing this investigation to ensure we are rooting out any employee who does not obey the law and to seek out other victims,” Macomber said.
The investigation began in July after officials discovered possible sexual misconduct by Rodriguez against women incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility, the department said. The prison is in Chowchilla, a California city about 120 miles southeast of San Francisco.
The corrections department said Rodriguez retired in August after he was approached about the investigation.
It’s the latest allegation of abuse by prison officials at facilities in California. An Associated Press investigation found that a high-ranking federal Bureau of Prisons official, who formerly worked at a women’s prison in the San Francisco Bay Area, was repeatedly promoted after allegations that he assaulted women incarcerated there. Another investigation found a pattern of sexual abuse by correctional officers at the women’s facility.
