Former FCI Dublin Guard Gets 5+ Years For Sexual Abuse Of 2 Inmates

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DUBLIN, CA — A former guard at the federal prison for women in Dublin was sentenced to more than five years behind bars himself for sexually abusing two inmates.

John Bellhouse, 40, will be imprisoned for 63 months and pay a $25,500 fine for abusing two women at Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin. The sentence was handed down Friday by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

Bellhouse, who formerly lived in Pleasanton, had repeated oral sex with an inmate and touched her vagina and breasts in 2019 and 2020, prosecutors said.

In 2020 and 2021, Bellhouse grabbed the breast of another inmate through a window in her cell and put his finger in her vagina while she was in her cell after showering, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

The case against Bellhouse was the eighth against an FCI Dublin correctional officer for sexual abuse related crimes, prosecutors said in a statement.

"Our investigation of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin remains ongoing, and we will continue to aggressively pursue justice for victims of sexual abuse at the hands of BOP employees," said Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is responsible for the care and custody of federal inmates.

Prosecutors said Bellhouse used his access to everyday items such as Starbucks coffee, yarn, jewelry, and cleaning supplies to coax his victims to go along with the abuse and to keep them quiet.

Simply being in possession of such items was considered contraband that exposed inmates to potential punishments such as solitary confinement and loss of good time credits, prosecutors said.

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