Veasey urges investigation into FMC Carswell prison rapes

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey urged the House Committee on the Judiciary to hold a hearing in North Texas to investigate sexual assaults in federal prisons in response to a Star-Telegram investigation into systemic sexual abuse and cover-ups at a federal prison in Fort Worth. A months-long Star-Telegram investigation published on Aug. 26 shed light on misconduct at Federal Medical Center Carswell. The nation’s only medical prison for women, FMC Carswell, had the highest rate of sexual assault allegations at any federal women’s prison from 2014 to 2018, and the highest number of assault allegations against staff, the Star-Telegram found. In that period, 35 women at Carswell reported they were sexually assaulted by a staff member.

“I am deeply disturbed by these reports and strongly believe the stories of the victims merit further investigation on a national scale,” Veasey wrote in the letter to the committee. On Tuesday, Veasey asked the committee to examine prisons with a high number of reports of sexual misconduct and cover-ups by correctional staff, with an emphasis on Carswell. He requested the committee hold a field hearing and ask the Bureau of Prisons directly how it is “actively addressing inappropriate behavior by staff in our federal prisons.” “(The hearing) needs to take place in Fort Worth, and we need to have an answer for the public. There needs to be some transparency on why these things are happening,” Veasey told the Star-Telegram. “And again, they need to be presented to the public, because it’s a big area of concern. I don’t think these people knew these horrors are happening right in our own back yard.” Veasey’s letter was addressed to Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Sheila Jackson Lee, chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.