A former Oregon Department of Corrections employee was sentenced yesterday for sexually assaulting nine female inmates while serving as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Oregon’s only women’s prison.
Tony Daniel Klein, 38, of Clackamas County, Oregon, was sentenced to 30 years in prison and five years of supervised release. A restitution hearing will be held at a later date.
“The sentence in this case should send a significant message to any official working inside jails and prisons across our country, including those who provide medical care, that they will be held accountable when they sexually assault women inmates in their custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Women detained inside jails and prisons should be able to turn to medical providers for care and not subjected to exploitation by those bent on abusing their power and position. We will listen to and investigate credible allegations put forward by people who are sexually assaulted and, where appropriate, bring federal prosecutions. The Justice Department stands ready to hold accountable those who abuse their authority by sexual assaulting people in their custody and under their care.”
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that using a position of authority to prey on individuals in custody will never be tolerated by the Justice Department,” said U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight for the District of Oregon. “Holding Tony Klein accountable for his crimes would not have been possible without the courage and resolve of the women he abused and the dedication of our partners at the FBI and Civil Rights Division.”
“We know this prison sentence cannot undo the trauma Tony Klein inflicted on numerous victims, but we hope this brings them one step closer to healing,” said Special Agent in Charge Kieran L. Ramsey of the FBI Portland Field Office. “As a state prison nurse, Klein abused his position and abused multiple women, violating the public’s trust, while doing everything he could to avoid being caught. The investigators and prosecutors should be applauded for their efforts to hold Klein accountable, but we recognize this lengthy sentence is also because of a group of brave women who came forward and helped ensure that Klein was held accountable for being a sexual predator within Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.”
According to court documents, from 2010 until January 2018, Klein served as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon. In his position, Klein interacted with female inmates who either sought medical treatment or worked as orderlies in the prison’s medical unit. 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 and assaulted many before, during or after medical treatment. For women who worked in the medical unit, Klein manufactured reasons to get them alone in secluded areas such as medical rooms, janitor’s closets or behind privacy curtains. Klein made it clear to his victims that he was in a position of power over them, and that they would not be believed if they tried reporting his abuse. Fearing punishment if they fought back against or reported his misconduct, most of Klein’s victims submitted to his unwanted advances or endured his assaults.
On March 8, 2022, a federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment charging Klein with depriving his victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexual assault. The indictment also charged Klein with perjury.
On July 25, a federal jury in Portland found Klein guilty 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.
The FBI Portland Field Office investigated the case.
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