Sex Harassment Probe Targets Anaheim Officer

An Anaheim police sergeant has been suspended with pay while the department investigates complaints that he sexually harassed several women who work for him.

Anaheim Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy said that the complaints against the officer involve verbal harassment and that no physical contact is alleged.

The chief, who said the investigation is nearing completion, declined to discuss the allegations in more detail or name the officer involved.

But Sgt. Jerry R. King, a 26-year veteran of the force, confirmed in an interview Wednesday that he was suspended six days ago because of complaints that he made inappropriate sexual comments about the women.

“It’s really a shock,” King said. “But until I talk to the department (investigators), I don’t have anything to say.”

Sources within the department said that as many as four women who are not sworn officers have accused King of making inappropriate comments. King talked about the size of one woman’s breasts and the buttocks of another, they said.

In addition to the sexual harassment complaints, King is being accused of creating “a hostile work environment and discrimination” because he treated “sworn officers differently from the non-sworn employees,” said Jon Beteag, president of the Anaheim Police Officers Assn.

He said the four women making the complaints work for King in the community services detail.

Beteag added that he and other officers are upset with the way that the department is handling the situation. Because King has been suspended with pay, there is an automatic “aura of guilt” surrounding him even before the investigation is complete, Beteag said.

“Why was it necessary to push him out the door with these unsubstantiated charges even before the investigation is complete?” Beteag asked. “They made him remove his badge and just sent him home. . . . It’s almost a hysterical reaction. They’re reacting to Newport Beach. Everyone is very touchy about these (sexual harassment) issues.”

The Newport Beach Police Department has been sued for sexual harassment in the past year by 10 employees and former employees, some of whom allege that they were harassed verbally and physically. The charges, which included an allegation of rape against a captain and the police chief, eventually led to their dismissal.

“This is not a Newport Beach situation,” Beteag said. “This is at the other end of the spectrum.”

Molloy agreed that the allegations did not match the severity of the Newport Beach situation, and he expressed anger at the matter’s becoming public.

“This is a private, confidential, personnel matter,” Molloy said.

After this investigation, Molloy said, he is going to conduct one into how the information became public.

“I will summarily discharge any officer who may have been involved in leaking information,” Molloy said. “It is inherently wrong. We are talking about people’s lives here.”

Reached by telephone Wednesday, three of the four women who made the complaints declined to discuss them. The fourth did not return repeated calls.

Before becoming supervisor of the community services detail, King held a variety of positions with the department, from patrol officer to detective.

Several colleagues described him as an easygoing officer who had never been disciplined before.

The union has assigned an attorney to represent King at his administrative hearing into the complaints.

King said Wednesday that he has not yet met with his lawyer. The attorney, Paul Crost, was vacationing and could not be reached for comment.

Beteag said that police administrators have not fully briefed King on the women’s allegations. “He’s been given few details,” Beteag said.

Anaheim is the latest in a string of Orange County police departments to be stung by allegations of sexual harassment within the ranks. In addition to Newport Beach, the Irvine, Brea and Laguna Beach departments have been targets of sexual harassment suits.

Natasha Barker, a board member of the Bayview National Organization for Women, said that sexual harassment in police departments is “a mammoth problem.”

Harassment against women in the workplace has “reached epidemic proportions,” she said, and seems to be “especially prevalent in law enforcement.”

Times staff writer Kevin Johnson contributed to this story.