Show full transcript 0:51 and sexual assault. 0:54 Okay, here's episode one of We Are Jane Doe. 1:08 Okay, okay, I'm going to introduce you to someone else. 1:11 I'm Alexandria Prowlton. I'm Jane Doe number one. 1:15 And I think referring to myself as Jane Doe number one was part of the privacy with such a high-profile case. 1:29 This is the first time Alexandria, who goes by Ali, has told her story publicly. 1:37 I felt like I had no choice but to speak up. 1:40 I knew I wasn't the only victim. 1:41 I knew there was other victims, and I just felt like if I didn't speak up, this was going to continue. 1:47 And by me speaking up, I was going to make a difference for other women. 1:53 Ali grew up in California, in the suburbs, outside of the state capital, Sacramento. 1:59 She was a first-born daughter in an immigrant family, so she was responsible and high-achieving. 2:06 I had self-esteem, you know, and I'm educated. 2:09 I was a varsity cheerleader. 2:11 I was homecoming queen like I you know I'm a good mom. 2:17 After high school she trained to work as a medical technician. She had three kids 2:21 but things with her ex went really bad and in late 2021 she says she was in the midst of 2:29 an ugly custody battle when the police showed up at her door. 2:33 I'm holding my six-week-old daughter they say Miss Prout we have two felony 2:38 No Bill warrants for you. We need to take you into custody. So my mom's there. I remember 2:43 just kissing and smelling my daughter, handing my daughter to my mom, and they cuffed me and took me 2:48 into custody. She was charged with felony stalking in violation of a restraining order for 2:57 sending threats over text in the heat of that custody battle. Her crime isn't what our story 3:02 is about, so we're not going to spend a lot of time on it. But what you need to know is that 3:06 It was a non-violent offense. 3:08 I was sentenced to three years in prison. 3:11 What do you remember about the process of going to prison? 3:15 I remember the drive. 3:16 We finally get there. We get off the bus. 3:19 They unshackle us. 3:20 They make you get naked 3:23 and they put these big mumus on you. 3:25 Like these huge mumus gowns 3:27 and then they like check you. 3:30 They make you go through a body scanner 3:32 and then they give you your oranges 3:33 and then they give you these black and white platform looking shoes. 3:38 They give you everything you're going to need for your cell 3:40 and you sit there for hours. 3:43 And then finally you line up against the wall 3:45 and they march you out on the yard. 3:49 The Central California Women's Prison near Chowchilla, California 3:53 is this massive sprawling complex of housing units 3:58 connected with interlocking hallways, checkpoint gates 4:01 and lifeless brown yards surrounded by miles of barbed wire. 4:07 About 2,000 people are locked inside, 4:10 making it one of the largest women's prisons on earth. 4:14 Alley was taken to A Yard, 4:16 which is for prisoners who've just arrived. 4:21 I just remember we were freezing. 4:25 We were hungry. 4:27 I think I dropped 20 pounds on A Yard. 4:29 There were narrow metal bunk beds, a toilet, 4:33 and a shower with up to eight women assigned to a cell. 4:38 And I remember all we had in that cell was a Bible. 4:42 And so we would take turns 4:44 reading the Bible out loud to one another. 4:48 She hadn't been there long 4:49 when she first came across an officer 4:52 named Gregory Rodriguez. 4:55 Just a note, we reached out to Gregory Rodriguez 4:58 for this story, but he did not get back to us. 5:02 I was walking to a medical ducket and he was the officer at the post that had to verify 5:09 your ducket. 5:10 A ducket is like a hall pass. 5:13 It's like this piece of paper that you need in order to move around the prison. 5:18 And I had an N95 mask on because it was during the time of COVID. 5:23 And so he asked me, can you please remove your N95 mask so I can identify you. 5:28 So I did. 5:28 I removed my mask. 5:29 I lowered it. And he said, you have beautiful lips and beautiful eyes. You're so beautiful. 5:36 And started making sexually objective comments towards me. 5:41 She's used to getting looks from men, and her Russian-Ukrainian grandmother would warn her to 5:47 kind of watch out. You know, my grandmother always told me you may have it harder in life 5:54 because you're a very pretty girl and that has its blessings and downfalls at the same time. 6:00 In prison, she did not want to track that kind of attention. 6:04 Fast forward three days later, I was in my cell. 6:08 I was sitting on my bed and they called me over the loudspeaker. 6:11 And they said, Prout, you have a ducket, which is a pass. 6:14 They told me I had an attorney visit. 6:18 And so I thought, okay, great, maybe I'm getting out of here 6:20 because my crime is just doesn't fit to be here. 6:24 Maybe there's a technical error, something good's going to happen. 6:28 And as soon as I got to the main yard gate, I had seen that it was the same officer that 6:33 had made the sexually explicit comments and like my heart just sank. 6:37 I was like, okay, this isn't going to be good. 6:41 She was still so new to the prison and she kind of felt uneasy. 6:50 Officer Rodriguez had then escorted me into the BPH room, which is the board of prison 6:56 hearings room and he walked me in there. He said there's no cameras in this room 7:00 and then he showed me his office next door. He said there's also no cameras in this room 7:06 and I'm like okay well where's my attorney visit. I never had an attorney visit. 7:13 Officer Rodriguez came close to her and tried to kiss her. 7:17 And so I'm just like like a thousand things are going through my head 7:24 and I pushed him away. 7:25 I'm like, no, I don't want to do this. 7:27 Like, what's going on? 7:29 I don't want to get in trouble. 7:31 He had told me if I tried to say that I was engaging 7:37 in sexual misconduct with an officer, 7:39 I would be written up for a 115 7:40 and I would be put in shoe, segregated housing. 7:44 That's solitary confinement, 7:46 basically a jail within a prison. 7:48 and a write-up could also mean more time in prison 7:52 and more time away from her little baby. 7:55 And in that moment in my head, I'm like, I'm an inmate here. 8:00 I'm a convicted felon. 8:01 This is an officer who's been here for 10 years. 8:05 He has seniority. 8:06 I can do one of two things. 8:09 Fight him and pray that his superiors 8:13 and fellow correctional officers 8:15 are going to believe me, a convicted felon, or I can just compartmentalize. 8:25 And like all that mattered to me at that time was going home to my kids on my release date. 8:29 I did not want to catch more time. I did not want to be there any longer than I had to be. 8:37 And that's when he proceeded to kiss me. 8:41 He lifted up her shirt. 8:44 And he took me to a chair that was like up against the wall and began to sexually assault me. 8:53 He first forced her head down in front of him and then turned her around on this chair. 9:00 The chair had green upholstery. 9:02 I remember just like looking down. 9:04 I remember looking at his boot. 9:05 He had his boot propped up on the left hand side of me. 9:08 And I remember just looking at his boot. 9:11 and then it was over and you know what really upset me was he didn't use 9:18 protection and I remember telling him you know like this isn't okay I was like 9:25 this is unbelievable so after he told me to make sure you tell them you have an 9:33 attorney visit when you get back to the housing unit don't say anything don't 9:36 tell anybody you know they're not gonna believe you anyways you're an 9:41 It made. 9:43 Rodriguez left her alone in the room 9:45 and he went to go clean himself up in the bathroom. 9:50 I remember crying, 9:52 but then the fear and the like hurt and the sadness 9:59 quickly motivated me. 10:04 I remember walking up to my cell, 10:06 walking up the stairs to my cell 10:07 and just sitting in my cell for a minute. 10:09 And I thought, I still have the ducket. 10:12 the little piece of paper that said that she'd been out of her cell that had the 10:18 date and the time. I'm gonna save it and then the 20th of May I get called up 10:28 again for another attorney visit. Again there was no attorney. Rodriguez repeatedly 10:36 called her back to that room where there are no cameras so she came to 10:42 know what to expect. The same green chair, the same boots, the same disassociation. 10:52 She didn't know what to do. She was surrounded by fences. She was state property. 11:00 And so she turned to someone she trusted, a woman named Katrina Cameron. Tell us about your 11:10 Friendship with Katrina, like how did it start? 11:13 How did it develop? 11:15 It started when I first came to her cell, 11:18 like I needed a home and she welcomed me in her cell. 11:22 And the first night there, 11:23 she sewed a blanket together for me 11:25 and sewed a pillow cover for me. 11:28 She was so sweet. 11:30 And she was just like a big sister to me. 11:32 I trusted her. 11:35 I trusted her over anyone. 11:37 And so I came to her one day. 11:38 It was about 3 p.m. we were in our cell. I went over to her bunk and I got real 11:45 close with her because I wanted to keep it real low tone secret. I said sis I need 11:51 to tell you something and she's like do not tell anybody until you get out. Do 11:58 not tell anyone they do not tell anybody. She's like you do what you 12:02 have to do and be fake until you get out of here and then you tell 12:06 somebody. And I remember her telling me when things started happening to her 12:14 sexually. Katrina Cameron had been in prison for about 11 years when Ali 12:19 showed up and she's actually still there now. I remember telling her that if she 12:29 wanted to report something to wait until she went home because there are 12:35 It's a very big chance that things could start happening to her in a retaliatory manner that 12:41 I've seen before, and I didn't want that to happen to her. 12:46 We'll be right back. 12:56 Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors. 13:00 This message comes from Satva. 13:03 Have a big day coming up. 13:05 Remember, tomorrow starts tonight with the restorative sleep you need to perform at 13:09 your best. 13:09 The kind every Satva mattress is designed for. 13:12 So whether it's the first day of school, a new job, or an important presentation, 13:17 Satva helps you be the best version of you. 13:19 And now, save 15% off purchases of $1,000 or more at satva.com.npr. 13:25 That's S-A-A-T-V-A.com.npr. 13:31 This message comes from Capital One with the Venture X card. 13:34 Earn unlimited double miles and a $300 annual Capital One travel credit. 13:39 Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. Details at CapitalOne.com. 13:45 This message comes from Edison Electric Institute. Behind every moment, America's 13:50 electric companies are hard at work, strengthening reliability and innovating 13:54 for tomorrow. America's electric companies powering the energy of every day. 13:59 Welcome back to the Sunday Story. You're listening to We Are Jane Doe, 14:04 brought to us by our friends over at Snap Judgment. 14:07 And again, a warning, this story features descriptions 14:11 of violence against women and sexual assault. 14:14 When we left, Allie had just told her roommate a secret 14:18 and her roommate told her, don't tell anyone. 14:24 It was becoming clear to Allie 14:25 that this was not a safe place to speak up. 14:30 I mean, from the moment I woke up, 14:31 I was scanning for all correctional staff 14:33 because there was a level of suspicion with everybody at that point. 14:40 She would go to the chow hall, walk the yard, and then there was her job. 14:47 She'd been assigned to work at a place called the watch office. 14:52 We watch all the movement coming in and out of the prison. 14:56 So we're on a computer and pretty much we can see every inmate 15:02 in every cell on every yard and we can see who's leaving the prison and who's 15:08 coming into the prison. And in the watch office she would see a list of actual 15:14 attorney visits for the day and this is where things suddenly started to click 15:20 for her. Duckett's list a reason a prisoner is moving around the prison. Which 15:26 would be in the system you know when you don't have an attorney visit 15:30 that there's nothing there. 15:33 There were cameras recording her movements 15:36 and there was a paper trail 15:38 of those supposed lawyer visits. 15:41 But her ducket was blank. 15:45 I was nervous, of course. 15:47 I was like, okay, we're gonna do this, let's do this. 15:49 I said, you wanna issue me attorney visits 15:51 and not have attorney visits? 15:52 I'm gonna save those duckets. 15:53 So I saved those duckets. 15:55 She was able to save two of the duckets 15:58 and she put them at first in her Bible 16:00 and later to be extra safe. 16:04 Under the locker, I lifted the locker up and hit it. 16:11 When she was taken to the board of parole hearings room, 16:14 she took note of the cameras along the journey, 16:16 like the one at the end of the hall. 16:18 I drew diagrams with where cameras were placed, 16:23 where they were angled at, 16:25 and like put camera here, camera there, 16:27 camera there, camera there. 16:29 Like you really mess with the wrong girl here. 16:31 like, I'm taking you down. 16:35 On August 9th, Rodriguez walked her past those cameras 16:39 for what would be the last time. 16:42 And then a little more than a week later, 16:45 she heard her name called over the loudspeaker. 16:49 So it was August 19th of 2022. 16:52 I had just came off the yard. 16:54 I was in basketball shorts, sports bra, 16:58 a white tank top in my vans. 17:00 and I went to go walk in my room 17:03 and they said, Prout, come to the cop shop 17:05 and pick up the phone. 17:07 And I'm like, oh shit. 17:10 The cop shop is this little room 17:13 where all the rows of cells meet D-Yard. 17:16 It's where all the correctional officers hang out. 17:19 And so I ask Katrina, 17:21 why do they want me to go to the cop shop 17:22 and pick up the phone? 17:23 She's like, just go, just go pick up the phone. 17:25 So I'm like slowly going down the hallway, 17:28 like, I go to the cop shop and I'm like, 17:31 what is this phone call about? 17:33 There's this window that slides open 17:35 for when prisoners come up with questions. 17:38 And they're like, just pick the phone up. 17:39 And it's a R&R, which is receiving where you come in. 17:43 And they're like, call somebody to come get you 17:46 your paroling today. 17:50 She'd been sentenced to three years, 17:52 but she'd kept a clean record in prison. 17:55 And she was being released early, 17:57 after less than a year in custody. 18:00 We still don't know why. 18:02 And I'm like, wait, can you repeat that? 18:05 And they're like, today, you're paroling today. 18:09 And I'm like, I still have two months left. 18:11 They're like, no, we're not doing any of that. 18:13 You're paroling today. 18:15 Call somebody right now. 18:17 She walked back to her cell 18:19 and started packing her things. 18:21 Most of her stuff, she said, 18:23 she'd gave away to her cellmate, Katrina Cameron. 18:26 things like her makeup and her prison-issued hairdryer. 18:29 And when she saw the guards had passed on their rounds, 18:33 she lifted up her locker. 18:35 And so I'm like, okay. 18:37 I grabbed the duckets, I put them in my bra. 18:41 I didn't know if I just wanted them to be safe. 18:46 I just wanted to get through the gates 18:48 and really be free before, in case it wasn't real, 18:51 it wasn't real until I got through the gates. 18:54 A family member was waiting to give her a ride home, so she threw her stuff in the back 18:59 and got in the car. 19:01 I had everything with me. 19:03 That's when I was like, that's when it kind of hit me like, okay, I'm carrying this 19:08 like big secret. 19:10 I knew my mission had just started. 19:16 One of the first things she did when she got out was to meet with lawyers. 19:20 And she was connected to a prisoner's rights attorney named Robert Chalfont. 19:24 And I think that's how the domino effect started. 19:29 I called CCWF, I called the sheriff of Madera County, and I said there's an officer down 19:35 there raping women. 19:36 We need to stop it. 19:38 I'll offer up my clients for an interview. 19:40 Let's go. 19:41 So next thing you know, my clients were being interviewed by CCWFIA officers. 19:46 He found out that even before Ali came forward, the prison had started investigating 19:52 being a couple of complaints about Officer Rodriguez. 19:56 And then when press coverage came out about Ali's lawsuit, 20:01 Chalfont said his phone started ringing. 20:04 At that point, victims were just coming out of the woodwork. 20:07 My attorney, when I called him, he said, oh my god, 20:11 this case is bigger than you know. 20:14 He was assaulting women all over the facility. 20:16 When I found out there was over 20 women, 20:18 I was like, OK, I did the right thing. 20:21 A former correctional officer is accused of sexual misconduct against inmates at the 20:26 Central California Women's Facility in Chalchilla. 20:29 They eventually identified at least 22 potential victims. 20:33 Eight months after Ali first spoke up, Officer Gregory Rodriguez was arrested. 20:40 A former correctional officer now finds himself on the other side of the cell bars tonight. 20:46 Good evening. 20:46 I'm Liz Gonzalez. 20:47 And I'm Mati Torres. 20:48 We thank you for joining us tonight. 20:49 I saw the picture of him being escorted into the van and arrested 20:53 and for me, I didn't believe it. 20:55 I still thought it was like, it was surreal to me. 20:58 Like, it didn't register for me. 21:02 Stay with us. 21:09 Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors. 21:13 This message comes from Capital One with the Capital One saver card. 21:17 Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment. 21:21 Capital One. 21:22 What's in your wallet? 21:23 Terms apply. 21:24 Details at CapitalOne.com 21:27 This message comes from Edison Electric Institute. 21:30 Behind every moment, 21:31 America's electric companies are hard at work, 21:34 strengthening reliability and innovating for tomorrow. 21:37 America's electric companies 21:38 powering the energy of every day. 21:41 This message comes from Schwab. 21:43 Investing with Schwab is like a hike with endless trails. 21:47 Go solo with self-directed investing, 21:49 take stops along the way with trading 21:51 or choose a guide with full service wealth management. 21:54 Whatever trails you take, 21:55 you can invest your way with Schwab. 22:02 This was a big deal. 22:04 Officers are rarely arrested for misconduct. 22:07 And in this case, it started to cause this ripple effect. 22:12 That was bigger than Ali, 22:14 and bigger even than Rodriguez himself. 22:19 Okay, thank you all for being here. 22:22 Appreciate those of you who are staying for this briefing, 22:25 that you take a seat, 22:26 and that you turn off your cell phone 22:29 In the wake of the Rodriguez case, state lawmakers called a special hearing. 22:34 The incidents of sexual assault in our California women's prisons. 22:39 It is prevalent. 22:40 It's prevalent. 22:41 And it has to stop. 22:43 So it has a zero-tolerance policy on that issue. 22:46 There was a bill enacted in 2001. 22:49 There's something called the Prison Rape Elimination Act aimed at preventing and responding 22:55 to sexual abuse in prison. 22:56 But what happened with Rodriguez showed it wasn't really working. 23:02 Anomaly. 23:03 However, Rodriguez's violence is not an anomaly. 23:06 It exemplifies a pattern in which prison staff assault many, many people 23:10 because they are helped by many, many people. 23:13 In his case, there was at least a 10-year gap. 23:14 So they called in the warden of Tau Chila. 23:17 She got up in front of the lawmakers and survivors to answer for the prison. 23:24 We take swift and appropriate disciplinary actions. 23:26 Equally critical is the support and care we provide to the victims. 23:30 I cannot overstate the urgency of our response to these issues. 23:34 Prison officials told the lawmakers they were taking action. 23:38 But anyway, thank you all again and thanks staff for putting this all together. 23:42 You did an excellent job. 23:43 Inside the prison, pretty unheard of things were happening too. 23:48 The incarcerated women held these town hall meetings led by a nonprofit group, 23:53 where those who wanted to could start talking about the things they'd been keeping a secret. 23:59 In the 30 years that I had been there, 24:02 never had the prison allowed such a large group of us to gather inside there 24:11 with guests and without one staff present. 24:16 This is Elizabeth Lozano, who was in prison at Chowchilla and was there. 24:20 She says a woman from the nonprofit stood posted at each door of the prison gym to make sure no 24:28 correctional officers came in. Everyone else sat together on chairs, arranged in a circle. 24:36 Lozano spoke up. I had the times where I said no. You know? And when I said no, 24:44 being still groped from my breast and my hand put on someone's penis. And I never reported 24:51 And how did I feel when that happened to me? 24:55 I felt like I was like raped even though I was there might have not been no penetration. 25:02 But I felt how I felt when I was raped as a teenager. 25:07 There's things that happen where it's out of your control. 25:09 Truly honesty out of your control. 25:12 Person after person spoke. 25:14 These conversations were difficult, 25:16 But it felt like something hard and immovable and secret was starting to shift. 25:24 Internal reports of sexual assault, those PREA reports went through the roof. 25:30 And lawsuits were getting filed left and right. 25:34 More than 130 former female inmates claimed they were sexually abused by prison staff 25:39 at the California Institute for Women in Chino. 25:42 And while there was no formal acknowledgement of wrongdoing, 25:47 the state also began to settle some of the lawsuits filed by Rodriguez's victims, 25:53 including Allie's. 25:54 Her lawyer told her this was significant. 26:01 I just remember, like, sitting on my bathroom floor and him talking to me, 26:05 and he's always been really encouraging. 26:07 He's like, Allie, you have no idea the magnitude of this case and what you've done. 26:12 But Ali had one more choice she had to make, whether or not to testify. 26:19 If Rodriguez was going to do time, like actually get convicted, it was going to take a lot. 26:28 Witnesses willing to come forward, physical evidence, and a jury being willing to listen 26:35 to women like Ali, women who've been in prison. 26:40 Nobody in my family wanted me to pursue this. 26:43 They told me the correctional officer's union is dangerous. 26:47 The magnitude of this case is so big. 26:49 I feel like I'm balancing the world on my shoulders. 26:52 I had people beg me not to take the stand, 26:55 beg me not to pursue this on a criminal matter. 26:58 I was going to see justice through and testify, 27:02 regardless of whatever was coming my way. 27:06 It was late summer 2024 when Madera County prosecutors were taking the final steps to 27:12 bring Rodriguez to trial. 27:14 Ali was gearing up to testify when she got a call from the prison. 27:19 It was her former cellmate, Katrina Cameron. 27:22 It was August 2nd, and she would remember that date. 27:26 I called Ali and I was in so much distress all I could tell her is that we had just 27:31 got assaulted in the chow hall. 27:32 I was scared. 27:33 I didn't know. 27:34 I just needed help and that's all I could say is that I needed help. 27:37 She had told me what had happened. She told me she couldn't see out of one eye that Christina, 27:44 our other cellmate, had gotten beat up by correctional staff. That Christina was trying 27:50 to protect her, that they were trying to beat up her but she has a pacemaker. 27:53 I didn't know what they were doing to us or why but I needed help and I need somebody out 27:58 there to know. I think me speaking out has held a lot of nasty bad people accountable for a lot of 28:06 bad things. I think August 2nd was the boiling point. Coming up next, what happened on August 2nd?
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