Arroyo Grande resident suing California alleging sexual assault in prison

January 31, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

The Central California Women’s Facility located in Chowchilla was in lockdown when she was taken from her cell by a correctional officer she though was her friend. An Arroyo Grande High School graduate in her early 20s, she believed the officer had her back during a terrifying time in her life.

However, he pulled her into a dark corner of the prison and began kissing her. He shoved a hand down her pants and bit her neck. He then forced her hand down his pants. She did not fight back.

“I just let it happen,” Jane Doe said. “What do you do in that situation? You are a prisoner.”

There are currently over 130 women suing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation over allegations prison staffers sexually assaulted them while they were serving time at state prisons in Chowchilla and Chino.

One of the women, whom CalCoastNews is referring to as Jane Doe, served time at Chowchilla where she says a correctional officer sexually assaulted her.

Living in Santa Maria at the time, in 2008, Doe was in the car when an acquaintance committed a strong arm robbery. A judge then sentenced Doe to three years and two months at the women’s prison in Chowchilla where she was the only white woman in an eight-person cell.

“They found my hair disgusting and warned me never to let a hair fall on the ground,” Doe said. “I was terrified.”

One guard, Larry Allan, seemed nice. He would do little favors, like providing Doe an extra pencil. While they walked to the chow hall, Allan would ask her about her life and her relationships.

“I thought he was just being friendly,” Doe said. “I didn’t think he was coming on to me.”

Following prison yard fights, which Doe said happened frequently, Allan would pull Doe out of her cell for questioning, falsely claiming she was a witness. During three lockdowns, Doe says Allan sexually assaulted her.

After two and a half years in custody, on June 2, 2010, Doe was released from prison, but not before Allan slipped her a note with his contact information, she said.

Shortly after Doe moved in with her mother in Pismo Beach, Allan showed up at the home. Doe agreed to spend time with Allan in downtown Pismo Beach during three trips he made to see his former charge.

“I felt like I had to,” Doe said. “I was on parole and still considered state property.”

On one occasion, Allen and Doe spent time with a group of correctional officers at a restaurant in Pismo Beach where she was surprised to hear officers call her by her first name. In prison, guards refer to inmates by their last names.

Following the three visits, Doe told Allan she did not want to see him again.

Allan, however, refused to let her go, Doe said. He sent her hundreds of emails claiming he loved her and he hated her. He became more aggressive referring to her as a stupid bitch and threatening to kill her mother, sister and dog while saving her for last, she said.

“I told him I would turn him in if he did not leave me alone,” Doe said. “I had no protection, I was not even allowed to have pepper spray.”

In fear, even though she was worried she would be found in violation of her parole, Doe told an ombudsman she had relations with a correctional officer and that he was threatening to kill her.

Shortly afterwards, two internal affairs officers arrived at her home and asked her to call Allan and say she was pregnant. With the officers listening on the phone, Allan said he was happy she was carrying his child, she said.

Officers arrested Allan the next day. He spent six months in jail, Doe said.

Over the past 10 years, hundreds of women have alleged California correctional officers assaulted them, though many have little evidence. Multiple lawsuits, including Doe’s, are currently winding through the court system.

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