A twisted prison warden ran a California "rape club" where he forced female inmates to have sex and take nude photos.
Ray J. Garcia, 55, has been accused by prosecutors of operating the sex abuse ring at the prison in Dublin, California after allegedly assaulting at least three women.
During opening statements at a federal court in Oakland on Monday, Garcia was accused of complementing his victims by flattering them and offering to move them to lower security prisons.
Garcia was said to have groped and forced the female inmates to pose naked or in skimpy clothing.
Prosecutors also argued Garcia tried to keep his victims quiet with promises that he would help them get early release.
The prison warden has been charged with seven counts of sexual abuse after it was claimed he was so open with his actions that other inmates inside referred to the prison as the "rape club".
Image:
Jeff Chiu/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Garcia has denied all charges but if found guilty on all counts could face 15 years in prison.
He retired in 2021 after the FBI found naked photos of inmates on his work phone last year.
Garcia is the first to go on trial after five other workers were charged with abusing inmates at the federal correctional institution in Dublin, California.
In February, it was revealed there was a culture of abuse and cover-up at the prison which had existed for years.
Congress and the federal Bureau of Prisons pledged to fix the problems following the revelations as well as changing the culture at the prison.
Garcia is charged with abusing three inmates between December 2019 and July 2021 but there could be six women who testify after they were force to pose naked or in provocative clothing.
Image:
Ben Margot/AP/REX/Shutterstock)U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers confirmed prosecutors can call three additional accusers as witnesses - despite their allegations not forming a part Garcia's indictment.
And on Monday, one of the women testified she started to develop romantic feelings for Garcia after their first sexual encounter was in the toilet of the visitor's area of the prison.
The prisoner, whose job was to clean the visitation room, said Garcia he knew of several areas of the room where they wouldn't be caught by CCTV cameras.
The woman, with her voice breaking, admitted: "I felt like he cared about me and he loved me."
She added at first Garcia was "very sweet" but became "very pornographic, very vulgar."
The woman revealed their first sexual encounter at the visitor's room left her in shock, she admitted: "I couldn't' believe it was happening but I felt like he loved me and he cared about me and I wanted to make him happy."
She added similar experiences between her and Garcia happened in the room and at a warehouse whilst other prisoners were nearby.
Lawyers for Garcia argued there was no CCTV footage of the sexual allegations.
However, union officials have previously complained there are an inadequate number of cameras in the prison.
James Reilly, Garcia's defence lawyer, said: "The evidence is not going to show one single video of any of these supposed events."
The defence argued Garcia took pictures of one prisoner because he wanted to document the fact she was breaching policy by standing around naked.
