A California woman who was sexually assaulted during a physical exam while trying to visit her incarcerated husband has been awarded $5.6 million in a settlement with the Department of Corrections and the hospital that oversaw the exam, her lawyer announced Monday.
Cristina Cardenas, 45, He told the New York Times She was “traumatized” when she attempted to visit her incarcerated husband on Sept. 6, 2019, during which she was subjected to two strip searches, a body cavity search in which she was allegedly sexually assaulted by a male doctor, X-rays and a CT scan, as well as a drug test and a pregnancy test, according to a lawsuit she filed against the pair.
She later received a $5,000 bill from the hospital where the test was performed, but Cardenas plans to get that money back and more.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will pay $3.6 million, while the remaining $5.6 million settlement will be split between Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Hospital, a doctor and two corrections officers. All defendants in the settlement denied any wrongdoing, The Times reported.
But it's not just about money. Cardenas said she sued the defendants to prevent the injustices and violations she allegedly suffered from happening to others trying to visit loved ones in prison.
“My motivation for filing this lawsuit is to ensure that other people do not have to endure the same horrible crimes that I experienced,” Cardenas said.
According to the Times, prison officials had a warrant to search all of the visitors of her husband, who has been incarcerated since 2001 after being convicted of armed robbery.
But the warrant stipulated that officers could only strip-search visitors if an X-ray revealed a foreign object that might be contraband. Cárdenas' lawyers say she was given an X-ray and a CT scan, neither of which revealed anything abnormal.
Her lawyers also said prison officials tried to intimidate her during the intimidating trial.
According to chilling details revealed by Cardenas in her lawsuit, the official reportedly taunted, “Cristina, why are you visiting? You don't have to visit. It's a choice, it's part of visiting.”
Cardenas is represented by Gloria Allred, a prominent women's rights lawyer whose past clients include Mimi Haley in her lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, Judy Hughes in her lawsuit alleging she was sexually abused by Bill Cosby, and the family of Halina Hutchins.
“We believe the statements made by the unidentified officers were a form of intimidation used to deny Christina the right to visit with her lawful husband while incarcerated,” Allred said.
Allred told the Times that Cardenas was forced to strip naked and squat in front of a mirror, a type of examination typically only given to prisoners.
The Post reached out to Allred but he was not immediately available for comment.
Cardenas also said he was handcuffed during a “humiliating suspect haul” on the way to and from the hospital, and was denied water and toilet access for much of the search.
After a lengthy search and examination, no illegal items were found on her body or in her possessions, and she was not allowed to see her husband, Carlos Cardenas.
The traumatic ordeal was not the first time she had been subjected to an intense search by prison officials.
Cardenas submitted to a strip search in order to marry her husband. The two began dating after he was in prison. Cardenas said she had experienced difficulties visiting her husband before, but nothing as major as the September 2019 incident.
The settlement also requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to distribute a policy memorandum to employees to ensure that visitors' rights are protected when undergoing strip searches.
As part of the requirements, prison officials must give visitors a copy of the search warrant and make sure they read and understand it, and officials cannot go beyond what the warrant allows.
Sexual abuse and misconduct are systemic problems in California prisons. On September 4, the Department of Justice An investigation has begun California is investigating allegations that guards at two state prisons sexually abused female inmates.
Similar allegations have led the Federal Bureau of Prisons to close a women's prison in Northern California, the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, which was dubbed a “rape club” after an Associated Press investigation uncovered widespread sexual abuse by corrections officers.
With post wire.
