A former nurse convicted of sexually abusing inmates at an all-women’s prison has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
Tony Klein, 39, was handed the sentence Tuesday, after 17 ex and current prisoners at Oregon‘s Coffee Creek Correctional claimed he sexually assaulted them when they sought care or worked in the prison’s medical unit between 2016 and 2017.
Then a nurse at the facility, Klein was able to commit the acts thanks to ‘his access to the women’, prosecutors said – as well as ‘his position of power as a corrections employee.’
Back in July, a jury found Klein guilt of 17 counts of depriving his victims of their right to not be punished by sexual assault while incarcerated, as well as four counts of perjury for giving false testimony during a 2019 deposition.
Instead, the sentence handed down Tuesday includes five years of supervised release to be served after the 360-month bid, per the Oregon US Attorney’s Office – after he was found guilty of the aforementioned counts in federal court.
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Tony Klein, 39, was handed the 30-year sentence Tuesday, after 17 ex and current prisoners at Oregon ‘s Coffee Creek Correctional claimed he sexually assaulted them in 2016 and 2017
Victims like Michaella Lovewell, who did a six-year bid at the prison, gave testimony in 2019 about how she and others were targeted in medical rooms, janitor’s closets, or behind privacy curtains by the then nurse
Prosecutors wrote in a press release: ‘Aided by his access to the women and his position of power as a corrections employee, Klein sexually assaulted or engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct with many female inmates entrusted to his care,’
‘By virtue of his position as a medical provider, Klein was often alone with his victims,’ they added, ‘and assaulted many before, during, or after medical treatment.’
The announcement went on to recount how Klein ‘manufactured reasons’ to get inmates like Lisa Whipple and Michaella Lovewell alone in secluded areas such as medical rooms, janitor’s closets, or behind privacy curtains to commit the acts.
‘Klein made it clear to his victims that he was in a position of power over them,’ the statement continued – noting how the victims thought ‘they would not be believed’ if they tried reporting his abuse.
‘Fearing punishment if they fought back against or reported his conduct, most of Klein’s victims submitted to his unwanted advances or endured his assaults,’ it notes.
Kieran L. Ramsey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Portland Field Office that helped build the case against Klein, added that the sentence, while significant, ‘cannot undo the trauma [Klein] inflicted on numerous victims.
‘But we hope this brings them one step closer to healing,’ he added.
Initially, Klein had been facing life in a federal penitentiary, but was spared such a sentence by US District Court Judge Michael H. Simon (pictured)
Initially, Klein – who worked at the prison from 2010 until January 2018 – had been facing life in a federal penitentiary, but was spared such a sentence by US District Court Judge Michael H. Simon.
Part of his role as a nurse at the all-female prison – the only one in the state – was interacting with inmates seeking medical treatment, a responsibility victims Whipple and Lowell said he took advantage of.
‘It wasn’t just Tony,’ Whipple said after the sentence was handed down Tuesday, alleging that a more sprawling, systemic series of infractions allowed Klein to commit the acts.
She, however, added Klein was ‘the ultimate predator and person in this situation’, after recounting in a 2019 deposition how she was assaulted by Klein during medical appointments at the Coffee Creek.
During the testimony, Whipple – who has since been released – said she didn’t report Klein because she was afraid it would add time to her prison sentence.
The only all-female prison in the state, the 1,684-bed facility opened in 2001 and has since been plagued by several scandals alleging abuse by staff
Then a nurse at the facility, Klein was able to commit the acts thanks to ‘his access to the women’, prosecutors said in a press release – as well as ‘his position of power as a corrections employee.’ Seen here is a file photo of inmates at the all-female prison
Part of his role as a nurse at the all-female prison was interacting with inmates seeking medical treatment,
She added Wednesday: ‘But the Department of Corrections, there’s a whole bunch of things they could’ve done… to make sure that this type of victimizing does not happen within these walls.’
Meanwhile, Michaella Lovewell, who did a six-year stretch at the prison, said of Klein during her deposition: ‘He would just tell me personal things about his life.
An orderly in the prison infirmary who entered prison in 2014, she said she was pregnant at the time and first met Klein during prenatal appointments.
She recalled how Klein, at the time, treated her with kindness at what had been a low point in her life.
‘I thought that like – like we had a friendship, that somebody cared, you know, somebody was nice,’ Lovewell said during her deposition.
‘The way you get treated in here is like you’re nothing. You’re just a number and they make sure that you know that. And so I trusted him and I was wrong for that. I shouldn’t have done that.’
After she gave birth, Lovewell put her daughter up for adoption and returned to Coffee Creek, where she took the job in the infirmary to support other pregnant women in custody.
It was there that Whipple also accused Klein of inappropriately touching her during her sentence, prosecutors said.
In their lawsuits, Lovewell, Whipple and 15 other women alleged Klein’s friendly and behavior toward some of the women in Coffee Creek was ‘designed to elicit trust.’ Inmates’ histories, prosecutors said, ‘were easily accessed by Klein on the ODOC record-keeping database’. He was also charged for lying during his deposition in 2019 (pictured)
In their lawsuits, Lovewell, Whipple and 15 other women alleged Klein’s friendly and flirtatious behavior toward some of the women in Coffee Creek was ‘designed to elicit trust.’
They claimed he specially sought women who were vulnerable because they had experienced trauma, and that ‘All the women selected by Klein met a rough profile of having extensive sexual abuse histories.’
Those histories, prosecutors said, ‘were easily accessed by Klein on the ODOC record-keeping database.’
The Oregon Department of Corrections declined an interview request from Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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