Was it “forced sex”?
Or did the women “love him and want to make him happy”?
Rape is kind of a hoax, to be quite honest. This is obviously an abuse of a work position, but is it forced or not?
First, the prison’s male warden would flatter the incarcerated women under his charge who attracted him, shower them with compliments and promise them early releases or transfers to lower-security facilities, according to authorities.
Eventually, he would allegedly take them to places in his lockup that he knew weren’t watched by surveillance cameras, force sex on them and take nude photos of them.
But then some of the women spoke out, exposing the horrors they endured at the federal prison that came to be known as the “rape club”. Now the warden is potentially looking at serving his own sentence as his trial has begun in a case that has shocked America and shone a terrible spotlight at the abuses and crimes committed in its sprawling penal system.
Ray J Garcia – who ran the federal correctional institution in Dublin, California, near Oakland – retired after FBI agents investigating reports that he was preying on women serving time in his prison found nude photos of some of them on his government-issued phone last year. He and four other workers at the facility have been charged with abusing women at the embattled complex, accused of breaking a law that prohibits sexual contact between prison workers and inmates.
Garcia, 55, has pleaded not guilty and this week became the first to go to trial before a judge at Oakland’s federal courthouse.
His attorney, James Reilly, maintains that a lack of video depicting any of Garcia’s purported abuses means he cannot be convicted. And Garcia took the witness stand in his own defense, denying that he had any inappropriate contact with anyone under his power and saying he snapped the nude photos because he thought the prisoners might have had drugs, the Oakland news outlet KTVU-TV reported.
Three others have pleaded guilty, and another is scheduled to be tried next year.
The case against the retired warden stands out because he was the highest-ranking federal prison official arrested in more than 10 years, charged with abusing at least three women under his purview between December 2019 and July 2021.
It has also drawn attention because the prison he once ran briefly housed actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman over their roles in the 2019 national college admissions scandal. There is no indication that either celebrity met Garcia while they served their relatively short sentences.
After opening arguments and testimony began on Monday, one of Garcia’s accusers recounted how he stoked romantic interest in her and initiated a sexual encounter with her in the bathroom of a visitor’s area which she cleaned as part of her responsibilities at the facility.
The woman said there were similar encounters in the visitation room itself and in a warehouse where others were nearby, with Garcia confident that he knew where the prison surveillance cameras’ blind spots were.
“I felt like he loved me and he cared about me and I wanted to make him happy,” the woman said as her voice broke at points during her testimony, according to the Associated Press.
Garcia’s initially “sweet” disposition later turned “pornographic”, and he once convinced her to insert a half-eaten candy cane into herself, that woman testified, according to KTVU-TV. The woman ultimately realized that Garcia was carrying on similarly with other women at the prison before reporting him to the FBI and getting transferred to another facility, where she described being scorned as a “snitch” for speaking up.
Another woman testified on Wednesday that Garcia showed her two cellphone photos of his genitals and kissed her. Then, when she was later living at a halfway house, he took nude photos of her during video calls – something to which she didn’t consent and initially didn’t know about, she testified.
The woman said she learned of the photos Garcia had furtively snapped after federal authorities subpoenaed her to testify against him.
Media have not published the women’s identities, citing a policy against naming victims of sexual violence.
It’s whatever.
I don’t support it.
But it’s just exhausting to hear about “rape” constantly and then find out “oh but she actually did love him.”
It has to be one thing or the other, or this entire concept of “rape” needs to be reexamined.
If he’s found guilty he can experience what he has put on those poor women.
— Nella (@NellaPCM) December 3, 2022
Yes, if he’s found guilty, a female warden should make him fall in love with her. That will teach him.