Under New Fire, Campbell Backs Off on Retiring

Police Chief Arb Campbell, buffeted by successive accusations of rape and condoning sexual harassment, Friday withdrew his two-day-old pledge to retire next spring, saying through a spokesman he “is not going to sit back and let these allegations run wild.”

Sgt. Andy Gonis, the department’s spokesman, said Campbell “rescinded his retirement plans because he fully expects to be exonerated in any investigation, and plans on returning to full duty as chief of police.”

The announcement came one day after police dispatcher Peri Ropke became the fifth plaintiff in a Superior Court sexual harassment lawsuit, accusing Campbell and Capt. Anthony Villa of raping her at a drunken Police Department party 11 years ago.

Less than three hours after she made her charges public at a press conference, City Manager Kevin J. Murphy, citing the serious nature of the misconduct allegations, put both the chief and captain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a city investigation.

Meanwhile, the local chapter of NOW called for the Orange County Grand Jury to take over that investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment spelled out in the lawsuit, which was filed late last month by four current and former department employees.

The suit was amended Thursday to include Ropke’s rape charges. In the suit, she claims both Campbell and Villa forced her to engage in various sex acts before raping her during a drunken, all-night Police Department party held one night in July, 1981, at a dump site near Bonita Canyon, not far from the police station.

The other four women have alleged Villa sexually harassed them on and off the job by touching breasts and making sexual remarks to them, and that Campbell condoned this misconduct.

Murphy said he had not spoken with Campbell Friday, when he received a two-sentence memo the chief had delivered to him. It said: “This is to notify you that I am officially withdrawing my notice dated Oct. 14 of intent to retire May 15, 1993. At present, I have no intention of filing for a service retirement.”

The city-paid attorney representing Campbell and Villa, Bruce Praet, said the chief was out of town and probably in the desert with his wife, Lavonne, a Newport police detective who handles juvenile crimes. Neither Campbell nor Villa have commented publicly on the charges swirling about them.

Before Thursday’s accusations of rape, Praet said, “The allegation against (Campbell) . . . had pretty much been vicarious, that he condoned (sexual harassment by Villa). So there didn’t seem to be any direct link, or inference to be drawn from a retirement he’d been planning a long time.

“So he announces his retirement, and out comes this rape allegation. And Campbell says, ‘Hey, now, this is personal against me. I don’t want any inference this strong against me if I retire.’ He’s not going to let these people give the impression that they’re causing him to retire,” Praet added.

“As to Arb’s rescission of his retirement,” said Steven R. Pingel, the Seal Beach attorney representing all five women, “I think it’s a very sad thing for the citizens of Newport Beach.”

Though City Manager Murphy and Gonis insisted Wednesday that Campbell’s retirement announcement was unrelated to the allegations against him, Praet admitted Friday that Campbell was probably aware at the time of his retirement announcement that an accusation of rape might soon surface publicly.

“I’m not going to say Arb didn’t have some hint of the rape charge, but there were three different theories on what the press conference might be,” Praet said. “To say Arb knew unequivocally what was going to be said, you can’t say that. To say he had no possible clue is untrue as well, though.”

The Bayview chapter of the National Organization for Women released this statement Friday:

“Every woman in Orange County should be outraged when (sexual harassment) charges of this magnitude are dismissed by city-paid attorneys as ‘frivolous.’ It is not surprising that women are reluctant to come forward when, as in the case of Anita Hill, the accuser is portrayed from the outset as mentally unstable or as a ‘disgruntled employee.’ ”

That refers to comments by Praet, who has cast the women plaintiffs as employees with an ax to grind because they had been disciplined. In denying the allegations on behalf of his clients, Praet has questioned the mental health of the women accusing Campbell and Villa of sexual harassment or rape, saying he planned to seek a psychiatric examination of Ropke in particular.

The city manager, who hired a Los Angeles attorney to investigate the women’s allegations after they requested an outside and independent review of their charges, said NOW’s demand for either a grand jury investigation or a probe by a “Christopher-like Commission” is based on insufficient information.

He called the demand “unfortunate,” adding that it “does not surprise me.” But lacking all the pertinent information on the city’s efforts “hampers them from being objective.”

A grand jury spokesman declined to comment, saying the panel does not confirm or deny the existence of its investigations to protect their secrecy.

Bayview NOW chapter coordinator Lisa McClanahan said the 200-member group requested an application to present evidence for investigation by the grand jury Friday.

The Police Department became embroiled in controversy on Sept. 24, when three current and one former employee--including two sworn officers--sued Campbell and Villa in Orange County Superior Court, seeking damages in excess of $200,000 each. They allege that they had been sexually harassed by Villa and that Campbell, a close friend of Villa’s who owns property with him in Riverside County, did nothing to stop Villa’s alleged misconduct.

Villa is specifically accused of harassing the women on and off duty with suggestive remarks and physical contact. All the women contend they were discriminated against in their careers and were either fired or disciplined after complaining officially of sexual harassment.

Two of the women who were fired won reinstatement to their jobs when they appealed their cases to the city’s Civil Service Board.