Rebecca was in a women’s prison and could reasonably have expected not to share a cell with her alleged future rapist.
But days after moving cells following a fight with other inmates, Rebecca says she was the victim of a “fully penetrative” attack in the showers – at the hands of her new cellmate, a self-identified transgender inmate.
The alleged attack has left her with paralyzing trauma and unable to shower for days. Basic hygiene is now a ‘trigger’ that brings back the horror of her ordeal.
DailyMail.com can now exclusively reveal the shocking details of this alleged sexual assault at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, about 150 miles southeast of San Francisco.
We changed Rebecca’s name to protect her true identity.
Rebecca says she was raped by Tremaine Carroll, 51, one of the first male inmates to apply for transfer to a women’s prison under California’s progressive transgender law.
A female inmate sits in her cell at the Central California Women’s Facility, which now also houses dozens of trans male-to-female inmates
In January 2024, Rebecca, in her thirties and just over five feet tall, served a short sentence for a burglary.
Sources close to her case say that after asking prison authorities to change her cell, she chose to live with two female inmates and a self-identified transgender inmate named Tremaine Carroll.
As a juvenile, Carroll was charged with theft and possession of a firearm in 1988 and 1989, according to court documents.
In 1990, Carroll was arrested as an adult for involvement in the kidnapping, robbery and assault at gunpoint of two women.
Carroll was charged with three counts of “oral copulation,” forcing a victim to perform oral sex, although these charges were eventually dropped.
Carroll pleaded guilty to just two counts of kidnapping and was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in prison.
After his release, Carroll – then 25 years old – offended again in 1998 and was arrested and convicted of robbing a jewelry store.
This crime triggered California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law, which imposes further penalties on offenders with three serious convictions.
Carroll was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years to life and has been incarcerated ever since.
Now, at 51 years old, 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, Carroll is physically imposing.
In mugshot photos, Carroll sports thick black and gray stumbling blocks and identifies herself as a trans woman, although she has not undergone gender reassignment surgery.
That is not a requirement for male inmates to transfer to women-only facilities in California.
On September 29, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act to allow incarcerated transgender, non-binary, and intersex people to petition to be housed in a “way that is consistent with their gender identity’.
To request a transfer, prisoners only need to declare their identity – and obtain permission from prison authorities.
Rebecca was raped in the shower, she says. By showering she now relives the horror of the attack
The sprawling Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla has been dogged for years by claims of sexual violence in its cells
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the transgender prison bill into law in September 2020
In August 2021, Carroll was transferred to CCWF after numerous complaints, including claims of harassment by other inmates and allegedly being the victim of more than 30 sexual assaults.
Once inside CCWF, Carroll became something of a “poster child” for the state’s transgender prisoner programs.
Writing for an obscure news website in 2022, Carroll described herself as a “trans woman” with a “girly heart and a confused mind.”
Women’s rights attorney Lauren Bone, who opposes the Transgender Respect Act, told DailyMail.com that Carroll even issued a statement refuting the claims of her clients – female CCWF prisoners who said they had been victimized by trans prisoners.
In testimony collected by the American Civil Liberties Union, a staunch supporter of California’s trans prisoner policy, Carroll claimed he was not a threat to women.
“I know what it feels like to live in fear and carry the weight of past abuse from men,” Carroll wrote. ‘We’re all in this together.’
Rebecca begs to differ.
She now reveals that, according to sources, Carroll began showing sexual interest in her immediately after moving cells.
Carroll allegedly left her flirty notes. On the second day in the room, Rebecca claimed that Carroll had propositioned her.
She said she had rejected all advances.
But less than 24 hours later, Rebecca claimed that Carroll attacked her while she was alone in the prison shower and raped her.
Inmates and staff celebrated a ‘day of action’ for transgender prisoners in January
Kim and Khloé Kardashian recently toured the flagship venue for their new Hulu show
Male-to-female inmates in women’s prisons are ‘like kids in a candy shop’, whistleblower told Independent Women’s Forum
Sources told DailyMail.com that Rebecca was then admitted to hospital and, in a humiliating manner, held in arm and leg chains while she was subjected to a pelvic examination.
After her release from hospital, Rebecca was separated from the prison population, searched and treated as if she were the predator because Carroll had – reprehensibly – claimed she was the rapist.
Rebecca is said to have screamed and cried during the ordeal.
The ridiculous nature of Carroll’s counter-accusation has now become clear with the official filing of sexual abuse charges against Carroll by the Madera County, California, District Attorney’s Office.
Sally Moreno, the prosecutor leading the alleged rape case against Carroll, said the new allegations cast doubt on the decision to greenlight the transfer to CCWF.
Asked whether the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) should review its procedures, the prosecutor said, “I certainly hope so.”
Carroll is now charged with two rapes: the alleged attack on Rebecca and another unrelated attack on an unidentified person around the same time.
Carroll is also accused of attempting to intimidate a witness to one of the attacks.
Carroll has denied all charges but was transferred from CCWF to Kern Valley State Prison, an all-male prison, according to prison records.
The CDCR declined to comment on Carroll’s case, but a spokeswoman told DailyMail.com that transgender prisoners who “pose a security and management concern” should not be transferred into facilities.
Women’s rights advocates say these allegations are a wake-up call for California’s prison system, which has transferred more than 44 biological male inmates to all-female prisons since 2021.
Nearly 200 transfer applications are still being assessed.
According to a lawsuit filed by the Women’s Liberation Front (Wolf), a liberal feminist advocacy group, CCWF installed condom vending machines after the law was passed.
Whistleblowers have also come forward.
Former California state prison guard Hector Bravo Ferrel worked at the Diego Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, a maximum-security men’s prison near San Diego.
He said that after the 2020 law was passed, “predatory” prisoners “did everything they could” to fake gender changes and apply for transfers.
