Sex With Inmates? Ex-Dublin Prison Guard Charged

DUBLIN, CA — A former correctional officer at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Institute Dublin was charged with sexual abuse of a ward after he allegedly had a sexual relationship with two inmates, prosecutors said.

The charges were filed last week against Ross Klinger, 36, of Riverside and were unsealed Wednesday. Klinger was arrested Wednesday and it was unclear whether he had retained a lawyer as of this writing.

He faces up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years on supervised release if convicted.

Klinger allegedly told the inmates that he wanted to father their children and marry them and gave gifts or money to the inmates and their families, despite receiving training that inappropriate sexual or financial relationships was prohibited, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney's Office, Northern District of California.

Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds called the allegations a "disturbing deviation from the responsibilities of correctional officers."

“Prison officials are given great power over incarcerated individuals and are entrusted to use that power to ensure the care, safety, and control of the people placed under the government’s supervision," she said. "The abuse of these powers echoes through the entire criminal justice system and threatens to compromise the public’s trust in the system’s legitimacy. ... Such an abuse of power will not be tolerated.”

Prosecutors allege that the encounters occurred between April and October 2020.

Prosecutors further accuse Klinger of repeatedly having sex with one inmate in a storage warehouse at the prison, then keeping in touch with her using the alias "Juan Garcia" after he transferred to a prison in San Diego. He gave money to her mother and visited her children and family, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also allege that he had sex with the second inmate in a shipping container at the prison campus while another inmate served as a lookout. The two kept in touch after she was released to a halfway house, where he visited her, had sex with her and proposed to her with a diamond ring, according to prosecutors.

The charges were filed following an investigation by the federal Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation.