The SF Sheriff’s Office is calling it “sexual misconduct," while the SF Public Defender’s Office says it was a “nonconsensual” sexual assault, but something got a deputy fired for an alleged incident with a trans woman prisoner.
We have seen some doozies of scandals coming out of the SF Sheriff’s Office in recent months, but the latest one is nowhere near as funny as, say, the sheriff’s brother-in-law allegedly growing weed at SF County Jail. It’s actually pretty shocking and brutal, as KRON4 reports that a sheriff’s deputy has been fired for an alleged sexual assault of a trans woman at SF County Jail.
There is little detail about what happened, other than that the incident was reported on September 19. Whatever happened occurred in a bathroom at SF County Jail #2. If you’ve ever had a woman friend in County Jail, you know SF County Jail #2, as it’s SF’s only jail facility that houses women prisoners.
“Serious misconduct like this has no place in our agency and will not be tolerated,” the SF Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to KRON4. “As law enforcement officers and public servants, we must be held to the highest moral and ethical standards.”
There is no information about the deputy in the sheriff’s statements or the KRON4 report. But Mission Local did some digging, and learned a lot more about this case, including information about the fired deputy.
That outlet got a statement from a sheriff’s office spokesperson describing the incident as “sexual misconduct.” Meanwhile, the Public Defender's Office representing the woman called the case “nonconsensual” sexual assault.
“She’s extremely scared for her safety and wellbeing,” a public defender’s spokesperson told Mission Local. “Our office is really concerned about the safety of transgender women and women in general who are in custody.”
Mission Local also determined, based on employment records, that the deputy was a 33-year-old man who was pretty new to the force, having just been sworn in this past January. He had previously worked in the department as a sheriff’s cadet and as a “property keeper” for seized items. That outlet did not name the individual.
But we may learn his name soon enough. Mission Local says that “once the sheriff’s department completes its investigation, it will present the case to the District Attorney’s Office.” If DA Brooke Jenkins moves ahead with charges, those charges will indeed be public.
Image: Joe Kukura, SFist
