Former FCI Dublin Officer Nakie Nunley Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assault of Inmates

Last week, former FCI Dublin correctional officer Nakie Nunley formally pled guilty to nine charges of sexually abusive contact against five female prisoners. He additionally admitted to having had sexual contact with two women. Officer Nunley’s guilty plea will make him the sixth FCI Dublin officer to be found guilty of sexually abusive contact against an inmate. As of September 2023, a total of eight FCI Dublin correctional officers have been charged with sexual abusive contact of a ward.

In July of 2023, Nunley entered a plea agreement prior to his indictment, which typically only occurs in serious cases where there is already a substantial amount of evidence that implicates the defendant. In Nunley’s plea agreement, he admitted to engaging in sexually abusive contact with several incarcerated women while he was employed as a correctional officer at FCI Dublin. Attorney Jaehyun Oh at the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm currently represents many of these survivors. According to Ms. Oh, “I am happy to see, for our clients’ sake, that there is some acknowledgement of the horrendous abuse that Nunley inflicted on so many women. It is only one step in the process, but it is an important step.”

Nakie Nunley was responsible for overseeing UNICOR, which is a call center that employs inmates at Dublin. Many inmates apply to work at UNICOR, as it is one of the highest-paying jobs and thereafter one of the most sought-after positions. Nunley took advantage of his position as the quality control supervisor and initiated sexual contact with many inmates, including those mentioned in his plea agreement.

Nunley’s inappropriate behavior was left unchecked by his supervisors and staff and it escalated to inappropriate groping and touching, digital penetration, forced oral sex, as well as rape on multiple different occasions.

Any form of sexual contact between an employee and detainee is prohibited in prison, and it is the Bureau of Prison’s responsibility to oversee their staff and ensure that all facilities uphold safe conditions for inmates, oversee staff training and prevention efforts, and to educate inmates about reporting protocols. As Attorney Jaehyun Oh emphasizes, “There is a purported zero-tolerance policy against any and all sexual contact in BOP custody. If that’s the policy, it needs to be followed. As we can see in these cases, it often is not.”

Last year, the former warden of FCI Dublin, Ray J. Garcia was found guilty of sexually assaulting incarcerated women. Garcia is the highest-ranking federal official to be convicted since 1925 and is the only warden in history to be convicted of sexual assault.

As the Warden, Garcia was responsible for leading annual trainings regarding the prison’s zero-tolerance policy of sexual assault, informing inmates of proper reporting and investigation protocols, and was a mandatory reporter if he did witness inappropriate relationships between staff and inmates. However, Garcia himself was engaging in numerous inappropriate sexually abusive relationships with incarcerated women, and the facility came to gain a reputation as the “rape club” among inmates and correctional staff across the country.

The Bureau of Prisons must be held responsible for failing to prevent rampant sexual assault from occurring at their facilities. As a result of their careless behavior, numerous women were wrongfully put at risk and will have to endure with a lifetime of trauma from those interactions.

FCI Dublin is one of the largest cases of widespread prison sexual assault in decades. On August 18, Rosen Bien Galvan & Gunfeld, LLP filed a putative class action lawsuit against the United States Federal Government, the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Dublin, and 13 FCI Dublin employees and correctional officers for failing to prevent, investigate, and hold perpetrators accountable despite the fact that there was evident widespread facility knowledge.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of all people incarcerated at FCI Dublin and demands that the BOP immediately address the systematic problems that have enabled the culture of abuse to persist at Dublin for so long.

FCI Dublin Sexual Assault Lawyer

At the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm, we can help when the unimaginable happens. Consult with Attorney Jaehyun Oh, an experienced prison sexual abuse lawyer, today if you or your loved one has suffered sexual abuse.