Immigrants allege assault by guard in detention facility

COMPLAINTS in a federal case allege sex abuse and harassment at Golden State Annex in McFarland.

- BY ANDREA CASTILLO

LARRY VALENZUELA CalMatters

COMPLAINTS in a federal case allege sex abuse and harassment at Golden State Annex in McFarland.

For more than a year, detainees at a California immigrant detention center said, they were summoned from their dorms to a lieutenant's office late at night. Hours frequently passed, they said, before they were sent back to their dorms.

What they allege happened in the office became the subject of federal complaints, which accuse Lt. Quin, then an administrative manager, of harassing, threatening and coercing immigrants into sexual acts at the Golden State Annex in McFarland. A person with that name worked in a higher-ranking post, as chief of security, at the Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana until August — the same month The Times sent questions to the company that operates the facilities.

The Department of Homeland Security said it could not substantiate the allegations. According to an attorney for one of the detainees, the California attorney general's office opened an investigation into the matter.

Immigrant advocates point to the case as one of many allegations of abuse in U.S. immigration facilities, within a system that they say fails to properly investigate.

In three complaints reviewed by The Times that were filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) to a watchdog agency and with Homeland Security, detainees accused Quin of sexual assault, harassment and other misconduct. The complainants initially knew the lieutenant only as "Lt. Quinn," and he is referred to as such in the federal complaints, though the correct spelling is "Quin."

The complaints also allege other facility staff knew about and facilitated abuse, perpetuating a culture of impunity.

The California and Louisiana facilities are both operated by the Florida-based private prison giant, the GEO Group.