What did James Theodore Highhouse do? Former California prison chaplain sentenced to seven years in jail

On Wednesday, August 31, 2022, former Federal Bureau of Prisons chaplain James Theodore Highhouse, who was previously charged with multiple counts of s*xual assault, was sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of probation following his release from prison.

U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. reached this decision after a trial regarding the duration of Highhouse's sentence.

Earlier, on February 23, James Theodore Highhouse, 50, pleaded guilty to five felonies. According to court documents, the victim, an incarcerated woman, reported Highhouse to federal authorities in February 2019, almost a year after he started abusing her in May 2018.

In a statement released by The United States Department of Justice, the nature of Highhouse's crimes are laid out in detail:

"Highhouse regularly met with her alone in his office. Then from May 2018, until the victim reported him to federal authorities in February 2019, Highhouse s*xually abused her, and his conduct escalated in frequency and severity over time. In so doing, as court documents set out, Highhouse used Biblical parables and the victim’s religious beliefs to manipulate her and coerce her into submitting to him. Highhouse did so despite receiving training on maintaining boundaries with inmates and attending yearly BOP refreshers about s*xual abuse and prevention."

The former chaplain, tasked with offering spiritual and religious guidance to incarcerated women, instead used his position to take advantage of these helpless cornered victims.

The court documents mention that to avoid detection, James Theodore Highhouse would threaten the victim into silence by using his position. The documents further state that everyone would believe him over her, simply because he was a chaplain while the victim was merely a prisoner.

"Highhouse committed s*xual abuse in the chapel office, and according to evidence presented at the hearing, to keep the victim from reporting him and avoid detection, he would tell her that no one would believe her because she was an inmate and he was a chaplain."

Instead of the standard prison sentence of 24 to 30 months, the prosecutor pushed for a sentence of 10 years behind bars, while James Theodore Highhouse's lawyers asked for the sentence to be lowered to two years. They cited severe mental problems related to his years of service as a chaplain with the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Taking into account James Theodore Highhouse's "sustained predatory behavior against traumatized and defenseless women in prison," and his previous attempts at misleading investigators by spreading misinformation, U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. increased the prison sentence to seven years. He added another five years of probation after his release.

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Woman blames former chaplain James Theodore Highhouse for ruining her life in a letter to the court

With the former corrections officer and chaplain at a women’s prison in California, James Theodore Highhouse, receiving his prison sentence on Wednesday, the court also revealed a letter sent by the woman who fell victim to Highhouse's assault while in incarceration.

The victim, who left for Thailand after testifying in front of a Grand Jury, sent a Victim Impact Statement, highlighting the days spent in depression and the impact that James Theodore Highhouse's heinous actions had on her physical and mental health. She said:

"I cried myself to sleep most of the night because I felt so lost, hopeless, worthless, and betrayal and truly do not know what to do or who to talk to about my problems? I try to stay positive and refused to accept that the wrongful actions by those who have done nothing but harms toward other will remain undiscovered."

However, her letter is also optimistic in the way she talks about her slow but steady recovery with the help of religion and the Grace of God. She stated that she is determined to turn her experience into one of strength, to use her experience to empower other victims of abuse.

"I do admit that it is not easy for me to speak about my experienced of being the victim of s*xual assaulted and abused. But I have learned to speak about it in an appropriate way as a survivor and not as a victim. I also will no longer be silent about my experienced as victim of s*xual assaulted and abused – and I know that these are many out there who can and willing to help me bring justice to other victims like myself and help stop this hidden and unspoken actions by the Unites States Federal Government employees, which have been swept under the rugs for so long, into the light of truth and justice."

The California prison is infamous for numerous charges of assault against its employees. Multiple other women have also testified against Highhouse. Dubbed the 'R*pe Club', the scandal surrounding the prison and its warden, Ray J. Garcia, is under investigation.