A female inmate at a federal prison in Victorville alleges a prison guard sexually assaulted her twice in 2007, and now she is seeking $5 million in damages, according to a complaint filed in a federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday.
The woman alleges that prison guard Noel Bunch "forced, intimidated and/or ordered (her) to perform sexual acts" at least twice in March and April 2007 while she was an inmate at the Victorville Federal Correctional Complex, court documents said.
NBCLA.com is not naming the woman because it withholds the names of victims of sex crimes.
The inmate's attorney did not return a call seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which manages the Victorville lockup, declined to comment, citing policy against talking about pending litigation.
The woman alleged that the first attack occurred after another prison guard ordered her to a prison warehouse, where she said Bunch assaulted her.
The second attack occurred in Bunch’s truck behind a bus station where the woman was awaiting transfer to another prison.
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She didn’t resist because she feared Bunch could prevent her from transferring to another prison across the country, court documents state.
"[S]he knew that any yelling, screaming or fighting … could be detrimental to her leaving the Victorville facility," the court filing said.
After reporting the incident, a prison official at the West Virginia facility to which the inmate had transferred instructed her to file a claim.
The court filing said that once he had been notified of the inmate's claim, Bunch was given the option of resigning, retiring or being arrested, indicted or prosecuted.
In addition to sexual assault and battery allegations, court papers allege negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and deprivation of civil rights.
The inmate's claim was denied by the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Prisons in December 2011, court documents said.
The woman alleges she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and other long-lasting psychological damages from the incidents.
She is no longer in prison, according to the complaint.
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