OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — A federal correctional officer at a women’s prison in Dublin was charged Friday with sexually abusing an inmate.
Last Friday, 39-year-old John Russell Bellhouse, was the latest employee of the Federal Correctional Institute Dublin (FCI Dublin) charged with criminal wrongdoing.
Bellhouse is now the third employee from FCI Dublin to be charged with sexual misconduct against an inmate.
Former guard Ross Klinger was charged in June and associate warden Ray Garcia was charged in September.
Bellhouse worked as a safety administrator FCI Dublin and supervised and had disciplinary authority over female inmates incarcerated at the prison.
According to a complaint filed on November 29, Bellhouse enganged in sexual acts with an inmate in 2020.
The complaints describe that Bellhouse began to express an interest in a particular female inmate and started calling the inmate his “girlfriend.”
Bellhouse allegedly provided the female inmate with a gift of earrings and allowed her to use an office phone.
The complaint further alleges that Bellhouse began to engage in” sexual touching” with the inmate and eventually engaged in oral sex on two occasions.
On one of those occasions oral sex allegedly occurred in the safety office, a space inside the prison accessible to both BOP staff and inmates.
According to the complaint another inmate acted as a “lookout” during at least one of the sexual encounters.
In March 2021, Bellhouse was put on administrative leave due to the allegations.
Bellhouse was arrested last Thursday and made his initial court appearance the next day at the U.S. District Court in Oakland before United States Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu.
He was charged with one count of sexual abuse of a ward — if convicted, Bellhouse faces a maximum statutory sentence of 15 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
Bellhouse is set to appear again before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryu on January 10,2022 at 1 p.m.