Bureau of Prisons to close down California women's prison that came to be known as the 'rape club'

The federal Bureau of Prisons announced on Monday that it would be closing a women's prison in California that has come to be known as the "rape club," according to the Associated Press.

While there have reportedly been attempts to reform the prison after the AP exposed the rampant sexual abuse in the prison, it doesn't appear enough has changed to justify keeping the facility open.

Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters issued a statement that said the agency had “taken unprecedented steps and provided a tremendous amount of resources to address culture, recruitment and retention, aging infrastructure and — most critical — employee misconduct," per the report.

“Despite these steps and resources, we have determined that FCI Dublin is not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility,” Peters continued. “This decision is being made after ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of those unprecedented steps and additional resources.”

KGO reported that the correctional facility has been at the center of a "several year sexual abuse investigation," with eight former staff members being charged with abusing inmates.

A former inmate, who was not identified, said: "There is an officer over there — he is nasty with all the girls, he like[s] to see us naked in the showers."

"Some of the girls have addictions, and the officers, they are the ones who bring in contraband and give in exchange for sexual favors."

The report noted that five former staff members have pleaded guilty and two others were convicted at trial. There's still one case pending.

The situation had become so dire that Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) said that the sudden closure of the facility was alarming.

"The fact that we got to this point is deeply troubling," DeSaulnier said in a statement. "There are still a lot of unanswered questions about this closure we are waiting for answers to, but the top priorities must be the protection of the inmates and their constitutional rights."

During a separate interview, DeSaulnier reportedly said that congress needed to step in to resolve the issue.

"I ask the committees of jurisdiction which would be the House Judiciary Committee and oversight to start investigating ... the whole system," he said. "If necessary, we need to close more of these facilities and appropriately see if there is a way to run a system that is fair, holds people accountable, and doesn't infringe on their constitutional rights."

The closest prison facility to the Dublin facility is 400 miles away.

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