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A former guard at the federal prison for women in Dublin was sentenced to more than five years behind bars himself for sexually abusing two inmates.
John Bellhouse, 40, will be imprisoned for 63 months and pay a $25,500 fine for abusing two women at Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin. The sentence was handed down last Friday by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers following a jury's conviction earlier this year.
Bellhouse, who formerly lived in Pleasanton, had repeated oral sex with an inmate and touched her vagina and breasts in 2019 and 2020, prosecutors said.
In 2020 and 2021, Bellhouse grabbed the breast of another inmate through a window in her cell and put his finger in her vagina while she was in her cell after showering, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
The case against Bellhouse was the eighth against an FCI Dublin correctional officer for sexual abuse related crimes, prosecutors said in a statement.
"Our investigation of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin remains ongoing, and we will continue to aggressively pursue justice for victims of sexual abuse at the hands of BOP employees," said Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is responsible for the care and custody of federal inmates.
Prosecutors said Bellhouse used his access to everyday items such as Starbucks coffee, yarn, jewelry and cleaning supplies to coax his victims to go along with the abuse and to keep them quiet.
Simply being in possession of such items was considered contraband that exposed inmates to potential punishments such as solitary confinement and loss of good time credits, prosecutors said.
Bellhouse, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, asked for between 21 and 27 months in prison, according to a request for leniency submitted to the court by his attorney Shaffy Moeel, a copy of which was obtained by the Weekly. The filing also reveals that Bellhouse, who was convicted of sexual acts against female inmates, is actually gay.
The defense conceded that Bellhouse acted inappropriately with the women but argued it wasn't not violent criminal conduct — while acknowledging that consent is not a defense for the charges by law, given the power dynamic between a prison guard and inmates.
The attorney argued for a lighter sentence given his lack of prior criminal record, his history in the community and the nature of the acts involved compared to more egregious behavior by other peers and superiors caught in the FCI Dublin sex abuse scandal.
Bellhouse, through his attorney, also referenced the emotional effects of family — and even himself — not accepting his homosexuality. The defense filing included support letters from both of his parents, former inmates and prior colleagues.
The judge ultimately went with a prison sentence of nearly triple the range requested by the defense.
— Story by Bay City News Service and Weekly editorial director Jeremy Walsh.
