A former corrections official was arrested for allegedly assaulting 12 inmates while working as a nurse at a women’s prison in Oregon, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday in a press release.
Tony Daniel Klein worked as a nurse at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, according to the release. Klein was charged with 21 counts of “depriving [his] victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexually assaulting them,” the release indicated. Klein was accused of committing various forms of sexual assault from 2016 to 2017, including aggravated sexual abuse and assault that resulted in bodily injury, according to an indictment.
In addition, Klein was charged with four counts of perjury for giving false statements during a 2019 deposition related to a federal lawsuit which accused him of sexual misconduct while he worked as a corrections nurse, the release stated.
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Twenty-seven women made allegations against Klein since 2019, Oregon Live reported. Klein was also named in 13 lawsuits filed between 2019 and 2021, two of which were dismissed, the outlet reported. The remaining 11 were settled.
One lawsuit, which dated back to 2019, accused Klein of fondling a female inmate on two occasions, according to Oregon Live. The lawsuit claimed that Klein “systematically sexually harassed, assaulted, and pursued female inmates” while he worked at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. (RELATED: Prison Transport Officer Charged With Sexually Assaulting Female Inmates At Gunpoint)
Another lawsuit, also from 2019, alleged that Klein had sex with a female inmate multiple times and that the Oregon Department of Corrections had “failed to protect the inmate from Klein,” the outlet said.
Klein pleaded not guilty on all of the charges, according to OPB.
Klein will face a maximum sentence of life in prison if he’s convicted, the DOJ said.