Former Oregon male prison nurse gets 30 years for sexually assaulting 9 female inmates

A former Oregon Department of Corrections received a 30-year conviction this week for sexually assaulting nine female inmates while serving as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women’s prison.

Tony Daniel Klein, 39, of Clackamas County, Oregon, received 360 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release.

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that using a position of authority to prey on individuals in custody will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice. Holding Tony Klein accountable for his crimes would not have been possible without the courage and resolve of the women he abused and the dedication of our partners at the FBI and Civil Rights Division,” Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, said in a press release.

From 2018 to January 2018, Klein was a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.

In that job, Klein interacted with female inmates who sought medical treatment or worked as orderlies in the prison’s medical unit. Klein used his access and position of power to sexually assault and engage in nonconsensual sexual conduct with many female inmates.

"By virtue of his position as a medical provider, Klein was often alone with his victims and assaulted many before, during, or after medical treatment," the release said. "For women who worked in the medical unit, Klein manufactured reasons to get them alone in secluded areas such as medical rooms, janitor’s closets, or behind privacy curtains. Klein made it clear to his victims that he was in a position of power over them, and they would not be believed if they tried reporting his abuse. Fearing punishment if they fought back against or reported his conduct, most of Klein’s victims submitted to his unwanted advances or endured his assaults."

A federal grand jury in Portland indicted Klein with multiple civil rights crimes in March 2022. A jury found him guilty of 17 counts of depriving his victims of their constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by sexual assault and four counts of perjury in July 2023.

The FBI Portland Field Office investigated the case. Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Cameron A. Bell, Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, prosecuted it.