Last Updated on February 17, 2022
The Washington DC Department of Corrections has a history of sexual harassment and sexual abuse allegations in their facilities, including the same facilities where January 6 prisoners are being held. According to their 2020 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Annual Report, the department recorded 55 cases of sexual harassment and 26 cases of sexual abuse in 2020.
The Washington DC Department of Corrections has a year-long history of sexual abuse and sexual harassment occurring within their facilities, including where January 6 prisoners are being held and reportedly facing treatment that has been compared to the conditions seen in Guantanamo Bay. The abuse occurred at the same facilities where the January 6 prisoners are now being held. “The DOC system is comprised of two primary correctional facilities – the Central Detention Facility also known as the DC Jail and the Correctional Treatment Facility,” the report states.
According to their 2020 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Annual Report, 46 instances of staff-on-inmate sexual harassment were reported in the year of 2020, more than doubling the 22 cases that were reported in 2019. There were also 13 reported instances of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse in 2020. Of these reports, the DC DOC claims the overwhelming majority were “unsubstantiated,” however, in 2020 they found one allegation of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse to be substantiated.
As National File previously reported, Congressional Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) visited the DC Detention Center for a tour of the facility amid reports of prisoner abuse and torturous conditions, only to be denied access, accused of trespassing, and ultimately locked out of the building. The facility received a letter last week informing them that the Representatives would be coming by to tour the prison, but received no response.
While inside, the warden lied to the Representatives, saying that a superintendent was outside waiting to speak to them. When the members of Congress walked out to speak to the supposed superintendent, the doors were locked behind them. An attorney who arrived alongside the Representatives was prevented from seeing his client. Shortly afterwards, the representatives held a press conference slamming the facility, which they have oversight over, for not allowing them to witness the conditions of the prison. (READ MORE: ‘ABOMINATION’: Gohmert, Greene, Gaetz Hold Press Conference After Being Denied Access To DC Jail Holding 1/6 Prisoners)
“Today, four members of Congress, and staff, were threatened with arrest as we tried to engage in public oversight. The prison officials were angry, rude, obnoxious, unprofessional, and abusive. They did nothing to dispel the allegations of abuse in the prison. They did everything to confirm it,” Congressman Gosar told National File. (READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Paul Gosar Tells National File Whitmer Kidnapping Case Is ‘Proof In The Pudding’ Of Fed Infiltration On 1/6)
