11th FCI Dublin officer charged with sex crimes, even though prison closed

DUBLIN, Calif. - The Department of Justice has charged the 11th correctional officer at the now-closed FCI Dublin women's prison with sex crimes, roughly two years after the facility closed and been left vacant.

11th FCI Dublin officer charged

What we know:

It's unclear why prosecutors have brought the charges against David Perez, a former disciplinary hearing officer, now. But in court documents, prosecutors alleged that Perez had "abusive sexual contact" with two women, identified as R.M. and S.M., between 2015 and 2017. 

Asst. US Attorney Andrew Paulson alleged that Perez touched R.M.'s breast and buttocks, AND digitally penetrated her while they were in a room called the captain's complex. The court documents also allege Perez had sexual contact with S.M. during that time period, alleging he touched her breasts, although there appears to be a typo in the documents, mistakenly referring to her as R.M. 

Paulson also charged Perez with two other felonies – sexual abuse of a ward and making false statements to a government agency. It appears as though Perez allegedly lied to investigators in 2024 – the year the prison closed – by stating he never touched incarcerated women, other than escorting them to and from disciplinary hearings. 

Perez has not yet answered charges

The other side:

Perez does not yet have a lawyer on record. He was charged on Wednesday and court documents were filed on Thursday. He was not placed in custody, according to court documents. He also has not entered a plea. 

According to his LinkedIn profile, Perez stopped working as a discipline hearing officer at the Federal Correctional Complex in California in 2019. 

His profile states he is now retired, and that he used to work as a criminology instructor, a diversity instructor and a correctional lieutenant. 

He described himself as a "dedicated, consistent and resourceful professional that has given 25 years to the Federal Bureau of Prisons." He also called himself a "change manager of establishing a culture of integrity, safety and impeccable service that quantified the benchmarks of stakeholder's key interests." 

At this point, there is no future court date listed for Perez's next hearing. 

Deborah Golden, an attorney who represents many sex abuse survivors at FCI Dublin, does not have any clients connected to Perez. But she did say she knows that the DOJ continues to investigate sexual abuses at the former prison. 

"Dublin abusers should not be comforted by the passage of time and the closure of the prison," she said. "Justice is coming."

Tess Korth, a former FCI Dublin employee of 25 years, said that Perez trained her. 

"Nothing surprises me," she said of Perez being charged from so many years ago. As a disciplinary officer, Korth said he had "even more power and control over inmates than most of the staff." 

Most officers charged with sex crimes

Timeline:

Perez is the 11th former correctional officer at FCI Dublin to be charged with sex crimes. That is the most number of officers charged with sex crimes at any federal prison in the country. 

Nine – including the former warden – have been convicted and sentenced. The remaining officer sat through two criminal trials, both of which ended in hung juries. Prosecutors decided not to re-try him a third time and eventually dismissed the sex abuse charges against him. 

The majority of their crimes were reported between 2019 and 2021.

The Bureau of Prisons shut down the prison two years ago, saying they couldn't change the sexualized culture there.

This month, the BOP recommended the abandoned property be "deactivated" permanently and turned over to the US General Services Agency. The agency cited how costly it would be to modernize and repair. 

What it will become is unknown. 

But 7,500 people wrote in to the government to say they do not want it turned into an ICE detention center or any type of prison.