3rd Worker At Federal Prison Charged With Sexual Misconduct

WASHINGTON (AP) — A national correctional serviceman astatine a women’s situation successful California was charged Friday with sexually abusing an inmate, conscionable months aft the prison’s warden was arrested for akin conduct.

The officer, John Russell Bellhouse, is the latest worker of the national Bureau of Prisons charged with transgression wrongdoing successful a situation strategy rife with corruption and misconduct. The Associated Press reported past period that more than 100 Bureau of Prisons workers have been arrested, convicted oregon sentenced for crimes since 2019, arsenic the bureau turned a unsighted oculus to misconduct allegations.

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Bellhouse worked astatine FCI Dublin, wherever actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin spent clip for their engagement successful the assemblage admissions bribery scandal. He is the 3rd worker astatine the situation to beryllium charged successful the past respective months with sexually abusing inmates.

The Bureau of Prisons has faced a multitude of crises successful caller years, from the rampant dispersed of coronavirus and its failed effect to the pandemic to dozens of escapes, deaths and critically debased staffing levels that have hampered responses to emergencies.

The warden astatine FCI Dublin, Ray Garcia, was arrested successful September and aboriginal indicted on charges helium molested an inmate aggregate times, scheduled times wherever helium demanded she undress successful beforehand of him and amassed a slew of nude photos of her connected his government-issued phone. A recycling technician was besides arrested connected charges helium coerced 2 inmates into intersexual activity. Several different workers astatine the situation are inactive nether investigation.

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Prosecutors allege that Bellhouse — who was arrested Thursday and appeared earlier a national justice Friday — “began to explicit an involvement successful a peculiar pistillate inmate and started calling the inmate his ‘girlfriend’” successful 2020. Authorities allege that helium inappropriately touched the pistillate and that she performed oral enactment connected Bellhouse doubly successful the prison’s information office.

All intersexual enactment betwixt a situation idiosyncratic and an inmate is illegal.

Prosecutors accidental Bellhouse allowed the pistillate to usage an bureau telephone — a usurpation of Bureau of Prisons argumentation — and besides gave her earrings. Another inmate was tasked to enactment similar a lookout during astatine slightest 1 of the intersexual encounters, prosecutors say.

Bellhouse was placed connected administrative permission erstwhile the allegations came to airy successful March 2021. He is owed backmost successful tribunal successful January.

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The president of the Senate Judiciary Committee has demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland fire the director of the Bureau of Prisons. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Thursday that Director Michael Carvajal has “no volition of reforming the institution” and doubled down connected his telephone for Carvajal to beryllium removed.