Wife of California inmate sexually assaulted during strip search wins $5.6 million in damages, lawyers say

The wife of a California inmate will receive $5.6 million after she was sexually assaulted during a strip search while trying to visit her husband in prison, her lawyers said Monday.

After traveling four hours to see her husband at a correctional facility in Tehachapi, California, on September 6, 2019, Christina Cardenas was subjected to a strip search by prison officials, drug and pregnancy tests, X-rays and CT scans at a hospital, and another strip search by a male doctor who sexually assaulted her, according to a lawsuit.

“My motivation in pursuing this lawsuit was to ensure that others do not have to suffer the same egregious crimes that I suffered,” Cardenas said.

Of the $5.6 million settlement, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will pay $3.6 million and the remainder will be paid by the other defendants, who include two correctional officers, a doctor and Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Hospital.

Prison authorities conducted the searches based on an arrest warrant, which stipulated that a body search could only be conducted if an X-ray revealed foreign objects that could be contraband in Cardenas’ body, his lawyers said. However, neither the X-ray nor the CT scan revealed such evidence.

She was also handcuffed during a “humiliating walk” while being transported to and from the hospital, and was denied access to water and restrooms during most of the search process. She was told she had to pay for hospital services and was later issued bills for a combined total of more than $5,000. Although no contraband was found in her belongings or on her body, Cardenas was denied visits from her husband.

One of the prison officials asked her, “Why are you visiting, Christina? You don’t have to visit. It’s a choice, and it’s part of visiting,” Cardenas said.

“We believe the unknown officer’s statement was a form of intimidation used to deny Christina’s right to visit her legal husband during the time she was incarcerated,” said Cardenas’ attorney, Gloria Allred.

Cardenas also had to undergo a strip search during a previous visit to marry her husband and continued to experience difficulties during her visits to his home, although not to the same extent as during the September 6, 2019 incident. Her husband remains in custody today.

The agreement also requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to distribute to employees a policy memo aimed at better protecting the rights of visitors who are subjected to strip searches. This includes ensuring that the search warrant is read and understood by the visitor, that the visitor is provided with a copy of the warrant, that the scope of the warrant is read and understood by all persons involved, and that the scope of the warrant is not exceeded.

Cardenas isn’t the only one who has experienced what she did at the hands of correctional officers, Allred said, and she hopes this case will help protect the rights of spouses and family members who visit loved ones in prison.

California prisons have faced a ongoing problem of sexual abuse and misconductThe U.S. Justice Department announced it has opened an investigation into allegations that corrections officers systematically sexually abused women incarcerated at two California state prisons.

CBS Los Angeles reported that the civil rights investigation will focus on the California Institution for Women in Chino, in San Bernardino County, and the California Center for Women in Chowchilla, which is the state’s largest women’s prison and is located in rural central California. Prosecutors said Wednesday that federal authorities will investigate whether the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) protects inmates from sexual abuse by officers and staff. The facilities together house 3,000 people.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 women incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County includes allegations ranging from 2014 to 2020 of forcible rape, oral copulation, fondling and threats of violence and punishment by officers, CBS Los Angeles reported.

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced it would close a women’s prison in Northern California, known as “rape club” after an Associated Press investigation revealed widespread sexual abuse by prison officers.