Tony Klein (U.S. District Court) Coffee Creek Prison (YouTube screenshot)
A 38-year-old man in Oregon may spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was convicted of sexually assaulting nine female inmates while working as a federal prison guard for nearly a decade. A federal jury in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday found Tony Klein guilty on 17 counts of depriving his victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexual assault as well as four counts of perjury, authorities announced.
“This defendant is being held accountable for sexually assaulting female inmates under his care, custody and control,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement following the verdict. “Abuses of power and authority, like this, where the defendant took advantage of his position as a medical professional to satisfy his own sexual desires, will not be tolerated, and justice will be pursued. We thank the survivors of these sexual assaults for having the courage to come forward and tell their story.”
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, Klein served as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, which is about 17 miles south of Portland. Part of his role as a nurse at the all-female prison was interacting with inmates seeking medical treatment and also dealing with inmates who worked in the prison’s medical unit as orderlies.
“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,” prosecutors wrote in the release. “By virtue of his position as a medical provider, Klein was often alone with his victims and assaulted many before, during, or after medical treatment.”
Prosecutors said Klein “manufactured” reasons to be alone with the inmates who worked in the prison’s medical unit, often taking them to secluded areas such as janitor’s closets, medical rooms, or areas blocked by medical curtains, where he would then sexually assault them. Making matters worse, Klein “made it clear” to his victims that he held a position of power over them, convinced them they would not be believed if they reported the sexual assaults, and threatened retaliatory punishment if they ever did try to report the 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,” the release states.
The four counts of perjury are for Klein giving false testimony during a 2019 deposition in a federal lawsuit filed by the victims he sexually assaulted while working at the prison.
“As a state prison nurse, Mr. Klein used his position to intimidate and sexually assault multiple women,” Kieran L. Ramsey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Portland Field Office, said in a statement. “His heinous actions were only brought to light by a small group of courageous women who came forward, even despite their precarious circumstances of being incarcerated. Their willingness to report their victimization undoubtedly saved others from Mr. Klein’s predatory actions.”
Klein is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon on Oct. 17, 2023, for his sentencing hearing. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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