3 Deputies to Be Allowed to Resign in Lieu of Firing
The county Sheriff’s Department has overturned a decision and allowed three deputies accused of sexual harassment to resign instead of being fired.
The department fired five deputies earlier this year after an investigation concluded that they had urged inmates at a jail in Castaic to commit obscene acts in front of Deputy Alyson A. Fox, 26, and pelt her with tomatoes and eggs.
Three of the deputies--Gregory Held, Ronald N. Owen and Wayne Horning--appealed their ouster to the Civil Service Commission, claiming that hazing of rookies at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho was a common practice tacitly approved of by the department. Before the deputies could testify before a hearing officer for the commission, the department agreed Tuesday to let them resign, primarily to avoid the costs of lengthy court proceedings, sheriff’s officials said in a prepared statement.
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