Sexual misconduct and retaliation alleged at women's federal prison in Bryan, Texas

Eight women say staff at Federal Prison Camp Bryan pressured or coerced them into sex acts, then faced punishment for reporting it. Two accused staff members still work at the facility.

Federal women's prison in Texas accused of covering up staff sexual abuse

NBC News and The Marshall Project report that eight women incarcerated at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas have accused staff members of sexual misconduct, with several saying they faced retaliation after coming forward.

The minimum-security facility, set in a residential neighbourhood in Bryan, Texas, houses around 600 women convicted of nonviolent and white-collar offences. From the outside, with its dormitory-style rooms and relatively open layout, it presents little resemblance to a traditional prison. According to the women who spoke to NBC News and The Marshall Project, that openness also means isolated corners with no security cameras — and no witnesses.

Six women who were incarcerated at Bryan since 2020 told the outlets that staff members pressured them into unwanted sex acts in areas not covered by surveillance. Two additional women said staff members groped or touched them inappropriately. In total, the women named five staff members in allegations of sexual misconduct. Two of those individuals remain employed at the facility.

"I wish I did a hundred things"

One woman, identified only as Darlene, 32, says a prison chaplain named Timothy Martin sexually abused her in the chapel and in a closet following months of grooming that began with compliments and hugs. She says he once cornered her in a bathroom and reached into her underwear.

"Looking back, I wish I did a hundred things, you know, kick him, scream, cry, whatever," Darlene said.

She reported the chaplain to a correctional officer and a captain in early 2020 and also spoke to a Bureau of Prisons investigator, but says she never learned what happened to that report. Days after filing the complaint, Darlene — incarcerated for methamphetamine possession — was transferred to a more restrictive facility. Martin is no longer employed by the Bureau of Prisons. The circumstances of his departure are unclear, and he did not respond to requests for comment.

Timeiki Hedspeth, 48, says a correctional officer grabbed her buttocks twice in 2020 while she was handcuffed in a hallway with no cameras. She reported the incident, but left Bryan in 2024 without ever learning whether the officer had been disciplined. The officer, reached recently by phone, said she did not recall any such incident and denied touching anyone inappropriately.

"It doesn't give someone the right to abuse their power and feel like we can be treated as less than just because we're in prison," said Hedspeth, who is now completing her fraud sentence on home confinement. "At the end of the day, we're still human beings."

Fear of speaking out

Several women said they chose not to file complaints at all after observing what happened to those who did. Darlene's transfer to a more restrictive facility was not lost on fellow inmates. Others cited fear that staff would face no consequences regardless.

Four of the eight women who shared their accounts are still incarcerated or under supervision and asked not to be fully identified, saying they feared retaliation. Most of the others asked that their surnames not be published because of the nature of the allegations.

NBC News and The Marshall Project reviewed sexual misconduct reports, court records, emails and memos addressed to bureau officials, and spoke with staff members and other incarcerated people to corroborate the accounts.

Zero-tolerance policy cited by warden

Tanisha Hall, who has served as warden at Bryan since 2023, declined interview requests but responded by email, stating that the Bureau of Prisons maintains a zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse.

"We take seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted to our care as well as maintain the safety of correctional employees and the community," Hall wrote.

Donald Murphy, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons, said in an email that he could not comment on individual allegations or related investigations, but that the bureau "thoroughly investigates all credible allegations to ensure the safety of inmates."

Under the Bureau of Prisons' own conduct code, there is no such thing as consensual sex between employees and inmates. Due to the inherent power imbalance, any sexual act between a staff member and an incarcerated person constitutes a felony under federal law, carrying a sentence of up to 15 years in prison — or up to life where force is used or threatened. Any form of sexual misconduct, including harassment and inappropriate touching, is grounds for dismissal. None of the five accused employees appear to have been criminally charged.

Congressional scrutiny

The allegations arrive amid broader scrutiny of the Bryan facility. The Justice Department drew criticism last year for transferring Ghislaine Maxwell — the convicted sex trafficker linked to Jeffrey Epstein — to Bryan from a higher-security prison. Claims that Maxwell received preferential treatment from staff prompted the top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees to investigate.

U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia said that during that investigation they also uncovered allegations from more than a dozen people that staff members at Bryan had sexually abused women or retaliated against them for reporting abuse.

Bryan is considered a desirable placement within the federal prison system. Among its current residents is disgraced biotech executive Elizabeth Holmes. The women housed there are convicted of nonviolent and white-collar crimes and move relatively freely between buildings for meals, work programmes and recreation — conditions that, according to the women who spoke to NBC News and The Marshall Project, also created the conditions for abuse to go undetected and unreported.

The women's accounts were filed under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the federal law designed to protect incarcerated people from sexual abuse. For several of those who came forward, the law offered little protection.

Source: Irish Independent