Grassley Releases GAO Report Exposing Inadequacies in Federal Prisons’ Approach to Sexual Abuse

BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA - U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report he requested examining the ongoing issue of sexual abuse in federal prisons.

Per the GAO, there were roughly 8,500 sexual abuse allegations in federal prisons from 2014 to 2022, with the number of allegations generally increasing during that period. GAO also found that the oversight tools required by the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 and DOJ's National Standards to Prevent, Detect and Respond to Prison Rape are insufficient to fully detect ongoing abuse. Further, inmates face significant barriers when reporting abuse.

"Sexual assault should never occur in taxpayer-funded federal corrections facilities. I was proud to support the landmark Prison Rape Elimination Act and welcomed DOJ's publication of its national standards in 2012. However, it's clear more needs to be done to end the scourge of sexual assault in our federal prison system. I implore the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to take GAO's recommendations to heart, and work to ensure a safer environment for both inmates and employees," Grassley said.

Grassley originally requested this GAO report in 2023 as part of his ongoing oversight of sexual abuse in federal prisons. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Corey Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) have since joined Grassley's request.

Read the full report HERE. Background, findings and recommendations follow.

Background:

Enacted in 2003, PREA established a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse in federal prisons and required the DOJ to develop and implement national standards to prevent, detect and respond to incidents of abuse. DOJ published these standards in 2012, requiring correctional agencies to collect data regarding sexual abuse in their facilities, facilitate a sexual abuse reporting process and conduct investigations of alleged abuse. DOJ's national standards also require independent audits of correctional facilities at least once every three years.

Despite the enactment of PREA and implementation of DOJ's national standards, allegations of sexual abuse in federal prisons have continued to rise. Further, several facilities have passed their audits despite rampant sexual abuse, including at FCI Dublin in California.

Findings:

The GAO report found that roughly 8,500 sexual abuse allegations were reported between 2014 and 2022. During that period, GAO found over 200 substantiated reports where the perpetrator was another prisoner and over 350 substantiated reports where the perpetrator was a BOP employee. The number of allegations generally increased from 2014 through 2022.

The GAO also found that BOP is not adequately using its oversight tools to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse. For example, PREA audits are currently designed to ensure a BOP facility is compliant with DOJ's national standards, not to detect ongoing abuse. Regarding data collection, GAO found BOP did not analyze facility level data for trends over time and did not publish uniform data in its annual reports regarding sexual abuse perpetrated by inmates versus sexual abuse perpetrated by BOP staff. Further, BOP has implemented additional assessments to fight sexual abuse in women's facilities but has not launched those same assessments in men's facilities.

In interviews with BOP employees and inmates, GAO found several reporting challenges, including limited knowledge of PREA resources and reporting options, discomfort regarding reporting and fear of retaliation, insufficient evidence, significantly longer investigations for allegations against BOP employees, inadequate staffing coverage and false allegations. BOP also found DOJ's national standards hadn't been updated to reflect advances in technologies and correctional policies since 2012.

GAO's Recommendations for DOJ:

• Enhance the ability of PREA audits to detect ongoing sexual abuse.
• Assess BOP's current contracting approach for risks that may result in inaccurate auditing.
• Provide PREA auditors with sufficient access to audit documentation.
• Analyze PREA data to identify trends and other findings that may require targeted action.
• Publish uniform data for allegations where a prisoner was the perpetrator and where a BOP employee was the perpetrator.
• Include men's facilities in future cultural assessments.
• Review the DOJ's national standards to strengthen prevention, detection and response to sexual abuse in correction facilities.

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