Former guard at Lexington federal prison sentenced in sexual assaults on female inmates
A former corrections officer at a federal prison in Lexington was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in prison for sexually assaulting three female inmates.
Jacob Salcido pleaded guilty in the assaults on three women that occurred at the Federal Medical Center between September and December 2020. Salcido was a guard at the prison at the time.
Two of the women have filed lawsuits alleging that the prison, which houses nearly 1,300 male and female prisoners who require medical care, of failing to address longstanding problems of sexual assaults.
Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Salcido in federal court in Lexington.
The 100-month sentence was above the range called for under advisory federal guidelines, but there were “significant aggravators” in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Dembo said in a sentencing memorandum.
One victim told the Herald-Leader that the assault on her was so violent she required three reconstructive surgeries.
Salcido agreed to the 100-month sentence as part of his plea.
He also must pay each of the victims $21,000 in restitution, for a total of $63,000, along with a special assessment of $5,300, and will have to register as a sex offender and be under lifetime supervision after his release.
Salcido agreed to sell his home in Winchester to pay the restitution.
‘Hurt and betrayal’
Reeves did not impose a fine on Salcido, saying that to do so would hurt his family. Salcido is married and had five children, according to the court record.
“There’s been enough harm that’s occurred,” Reeves said.
Salcido apologized in court for the “the betrayal and the hurt” he had caused and said he prays for forgiveness.
Salcido has been in jail since pleading guilty in September. He was handcuffed and chained at the ankles during the sentencing.
His attorney, Brandon W. Marshall, said in a sentencing memo that Salcido is disabled as a result of military service that brought him in close contact with exploding roadside bombs.
Before the criminal case was filed against Salcido, two women filed civil lawsuits claiming Salcido sexually assaulted them at the prison. Those suits, which are pending, detail the allegations against Salcido.
Another former prisoner, with the initials A.R., filed suit in August 2022 claiming she was sexually assaulted multiple times by Salcido.
‘Forever haunt me’
One of the victims, Andrea Bishop (formerly Rudd) told the Herald-Leader she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares as a result of the attack by Salcido.
Bishop said she still rolls herself up at night “like a burrito” in her bed like she did in prison to protect from being touched during midnight and 3 a.m. bed counts.
The Herald-Leader has a policy of not identifying victims of sexual crimes, but Bishop consented to using her name.
Bishop was incarcerated at FMC Lexington for a sentence of eight years for tax evasion — about the same amount of time Salcido will serve for assaulting three women.
“Our prison system is broken . . . that is messed up,” Bishop said.
In a written statement to the court, Bishop said Salcido’s actions “will forever haunt me.”
“I want you do know that I forgive you, but I also want you to know not only do I have physical scars from you, I will have mental scars for the rest of my life,” Bishop said.
Bishop also alleged in her lawsuit that the federal government allows systemic sexual assault to continue in prisons without meaningful intervention, and said in her statement that she tried three times to tell female guards about Salcido’s actions but that they told her to keep quiet “because they would be forced to report it and I would have to face the consequences.”
“We are convicts, no one believes us,” Bishop said in an interview. “We are the No. 1 liars and no one is going to believe anything we say. But we are all saying the same things.”
Another victim, identified as “C.J.” in court documents, filed suit on February 10, 2023, against Salcido and the U.S. government, claiming federal officials failed to hold their employees accountable.
