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A former prison guard at the now-shuttered women’s prison in Dublin pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two inmates and lying to investigators, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.
David Perez is the 10th person to either plead guilty or be convicted of sexually abusing female inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin. The former prison closed in April 2024 in the wake of an investigation into predatory sexual abuse of female inmates.
In September, Perez was charged with sexually abusing two inmates.
According to prosecutors, Perez worked at the prison from September 1994 to August 2019. Between 2014 and 2019, he served as a discipline hearing officer and was responsible for adjudicating disciplinary actions against inmates and then meting out their punishments if he found them guilty. Perez used his power in that role to sexually abuse women.
Between 2014 and 2015, Perez served as the discipline hearing officer for four disciplinary hearings for a female inmate. Each time, he found her guilty and assessed various sanctions, which sometimes included time in the Special Housing Unit and loss of good time. According to prosecutors, between August 2015 and September 2016, Perez repeatedly met with that inmate alone in a room in the prison. During several of those meetings, Perez kissed the inmate and touched her breasts over and under her clothing.
In July 2016, Perez served as the discipline hearing officer for another female inmate. He found her guilty and sentenced her to a little over two weeks in the Special Housing Unit, among other things. After her release from the unit, Perez began calling her to meet with him alone in a room in the prison. During those meetings, Perez complimented her looks, asked her to show him her breasts, and on one occasion told her that he had the power to add or subtract time from her sentence. On two occasions when he was alone with this inmate, Perez kissed her and grabbed her breasts and buttocks. On another occasion, Perez digitally penetrated the inmate.
In October 2024, Perez spoke with special agents and falsely stated that the only time he had ever touched any female inmate was when he escorted them to and from discipline hearings.
Perez is out on bond, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25 and is facing up to 15 years in federal prison.
