A Texas women's prison conceals a sinister secret: Staff sexual misconduct, accusers say

Some employees at a federal prison in Bryan, Texas, which holds high-profile women including Ghislaine Maxwell, said they faced retaliation for reporting abuse.

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system.

Tucked in a residential neighborhood of bungalows and crape myrtle trees, the federal women’s prison in Bryan, Texas, doesn’t look like a traditional lockup. The women live in dormitory-style rooms without doors. In khaki uniforms and boots, some of the country’s most high-profile prisoners move freely between buildings for meals, work programs and recreation.

But as sprawling and open as Federal Prison Camp Bryan appears, some women and staff whistleblowers say the minimum-security facility conceals a sinister secret: inescapable sexual misconduct, and punishments for those who try to report the abuse.