Women sue prison gynecologist over ‘horrific, sadistic’ exams, sexual abuse in California
If women needed gynecological care at an all-female prison in southern California, their only option was to see the sole gynecologist on staff — a doctor now accused of sexually and physically abusing scores of patients.
Dr. Scott Lee performed abusive, invasive and unnecessary exams on pregnant women and others incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino, a new federal class-action lawsuit says.
Lee’s patients endured harmful pelvic examinations, pap smears, sexualized digital penetration, physical restraint and retaliation, along with being denied medical care at the facility, where he was the only gynecologist from 2016 to 2023, according to a complaint filed Feb. 2. The lawsuit was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
One woman was seven and a half months pregnant during her first appointment with Lee when he’s accused of forcefully examining her, groping her chest and aggressively inserting “his fingers into (her) vagina” without explanation, despite her asking him to stop and telling him he was hurting her.
Lee caused her to bleed, and she “was scared and disturbed seeing the blood because she was in the late stage of her pregnancy,” according to the complaint, which says she hadn’t previously bled while pregnant.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Correctional Health Care Service allowed ongoing abuse against women in state correctional facilities for decades, the complaint says.
The agencies’ employees, according to the complaint, “ignored continued complaints against multiple physicians performing horrific examinations on patients at CIW, including defendant Dr. Lee.”
The complaint brought by the California Coalition for Women Prisoners names multiple employees as defendants.
“While we are unable to comment on personnel matters, Dr. Scott Lee no longer has direct in-person contact with patients,” a California Department of Corrections spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to McClatchy News on Feb. 5.
Lee, who is 70 years old, according to the Los Angeles Times, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
The lawsuit is one of several civil cases filed within the past few years over staff-on-inmate abuse inside California’s prisons.
In December 2023, a 255-page lawsuit was filed by women incarcerated at the California Institution for Women and the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, detailing harrowing accounts of physical and sexual abuse.
Less than a year later, in September, the Justice Department announced an investigation into both California women’s prisons.
‘Horrific, sadistic, and retaliatory abuse under the guise of gynecology care’
More than half the plaintiffs suing Lee are members of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, a grassroots organization that advocates for prison reform. Several members are currently incarcerated at the California Institution for Women.
“We hope to see that the standards of gynecology care that those inside carceral institutions receive is equal to that of the free world,” Leesa Nomura, the group’s statewide membership organizer, said in a statement to McClatchy News on Feb. 5.
“My hope is that in the end Dr. Lee will have his license revoked and will never be able to practice again.”
Women at the California Institution for Women reported sexually abusive and “sadistic” behavior during gynecology exams despite the risk of retaliation, including potential transfer to another prison, solitary confinement and possible disciplinary actions, according to the lawsuit.
When one woman tried to report how Lee abused her during what was supposed to be an external examination for a worsening skin condition, he retaliated against her, according to the complaint.
A medical assistant didn’t intervene after Lee “jammed his fingers into (her) vagina with such force that he tore her open, causing her intense pain,” the complaint says.
Lee didn’t provide her with treatment for her skin condition afterward, according to the complaint.
He withheld a topical cream that was later prescribed to her by another doctor in retaliation for her trying to speak out against him, the complaint says.
The woman, a survivor of prior sexual abuse, suffered emotional and physical harm, “including permanent disfigurement of her genitalia,” the complaint says.
The majority of women incarcerated in prison are abuse survivors, including physical or sexual abuse and domestic violence, according to For The People, a national nonprofit that supports prosecutor-initiated resentencing initiatives.
“We are relieved that the truth is finally coming to light and that the staff responsible for sexual assault are being held accountable,” Amika Mota, one of the executive founders of Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition, an organization of formerly incarcerated people who advocate for prison policy changes, told McClatchy News.
“For years, the survivors of Dr. Lee’s abuse were ignored, and CDCR’s culture of silence and cover-ups allowed this harm to continue,” Mota said. “This must change.”
According to state records, a $194,000 medical malpractice judgment was awarded against Lee in 1996 in Orange County Superior Court. The details of the case weren’t listed, as state law restricts California’s Medical Board from releasing information on the judgment.
The lawsuit says the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Correctional Health Care Service “not only deprived prisoners of basic gynecological needs but subjected them to horrific, sadistic, and retaliatory abuse under the guise of gynecology care.”
The case seeks to hold officials accountable for failing to protect women from systemic and sexual abuse and retaliation at the California Institution for Women.
It requests a jury trial and also seeks a judgment, relief and an unspecified amount in damages.
“There are survivors that are still incarcerated who continue to be in need of gynecological care and CDCR’s failure to address their complaints of Dr. Lee has furthered their distrust in the prison medical system; the effects of this failure are long lasting,” Nomura said.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Women sue prison gynecologist over ‘horrific, sadistic’ exams, sexual abuse in California."
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