A federal jury in Portland found Oregon Department of Corrections employee Tony Daniel Klein, 38, guilty of sexually assaulting nine female inmates. This happened while serving as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. It is Oregon’s only women’s prison. Klein is from Clackamas County, Oregon. He was convicted of 17 counts of depriving his victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexual assault and four counts of perjury. A similar case took place in a female prison in Florida.
This sexual abuse took place by Klein for years unchecked. According to court documents, from 2010 until January 2018, Klein served as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon. He formed a way to prey on women who are in the lowest part of their lives. Klein interacted with female inmates who needed medical treatment. He also took advantage of inmates who worked as orderlies in the medical unit.
Klein used lies to get his victims alone. He assaulted them before, during, or after medical treatment. He found reasons to get these women in medical rooms, janitor’s closets, or behind privacy curtains. He forced them into sex and threatened them. Prison guards have an uncanny amount of power over inmates. Also, inmates are in a culture where jailers work with inmates to prevent snitching. The women submitted to Klein’s advances out of fear.
The indictment by a federal grand jury in Portland was returned on March 8, 2022 charging Klein with depriving his victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexual assault and perjury. Advocates for prisoners have challenged judges to spend the night in prisons to observe where they are sending people. More cameras and independent individuals and groups are being fought for by some wanting prisons to be more open to observe.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon, after the announcement of the jury’s verdict, remanded Klein into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending his sentencing on October 17, 2023. Klein faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. He was prosecuted by Cameron A. Bell, Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, and Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Horsley assisted the trial team.
