Disciplinary hearing officer charged with sex abuse at beleaguered Northern California prison

Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News on Sep 18, 2026

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DUBLIN, Calif. — A retired corrections officer has become the 11th former staff member of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin to be charged with sexually abusing women in the now-defunct federal prison, court records show.

David Perez was charged Wednesday with four counts related to alleged sexual abuse of two women inside FCI Dublin, a notorious federal prison that became known to inmates as the “rape camp” because of rampant sex abuse that occurred there. He is also charged with one count of lying to the government to cover up the other four alleged crimes.

Perez has not yet stood in court for the charges, and the court docket makes no indication whether he has even retained a lawyer yet. The most serious charge of sexual abuse carries up to 15 years in prison, records show.

Perez is now the 11th person to be charged with sexual abuse at the prison. Nine of the other 10 — including a former warden — were convicted of at least one sexual abuse charge. The lone exception was a former prison staffer who prosecutors say was known as “Dirty Dick.” His charges were dropped after two trials resulted in hung juries, court records show.

The prison was shut down in 2024 amid the ongoing sexual abuse scandal, which spanned years and uncovered allegations of not just rampant sexual abuse but a workplace culture that fostered it.

The charging documents say Perez was a disciplinary hearing officer who had the authority to punish incarcerated women at the prison. His Linkedin account describes him as a “dedicated” and well-rounded professional who retired after 25 years of public service.

Prosecutors allege Perez sexually abused the two women roughly 10-11 years ago, and lied about it in 2024. All four alleged acts of sex abuse occurred in a room inside a prison “captain’s complex,” the charging records say.

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