VAN NUYS : Deputy Arraigned on Sex Charges

A suspended sheriff’s deputy pleaded not guilty Thursday to allegations that he had sex with a female inmate in a lock-down in the Van Nuys Courthouse.

Larry Wayne Fraize, 43, entered the pleas during his Los Angeles Municipal Court arraignment on charges of oral copulation punishable by up to two years in prison.

Fraize was arrested May 6 after a sting operation, authorities said. Relying on information provided by a single informant, Sheriff’s Department investigators installed video recording equipment in a holding tank in the Van Nuys court complex, according to Lt. Bill Christiansen of the Sheriff’s Department.

According to the criminal complaint, Fraize engaged in a consensual sex act with inmate Ashley Jordan, who is awaiting trial on charges of kidnaping for robbery. Fraize is also charged with aiding and abetting sexual contact between Jordan and another female inmate.

Free after posting a $50,000 bond, Fraize has been suspended from the Sheriff’s Department without pay.

Defense attorney Paul Kinion said that the statute Fraize is charged under may not apply to the defendant. The Penal Code provision outlaws participation in acts of oral copulation “while confined . . . in any local detention facility.”

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said the case may present “an interesting legal issue. At this point we feel we will prevail if there is any challenge to it.”

Ashley Jordan, who also uses the name Ashley Rodarthe, is a 24-year-old Van Nuys woman facing a life prison term if convicted of kidnaping for robbery. Jordan is charged--along with a co-defendant who already pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 10 years is state prison--with abducting attorney Wayne Avroshow at gunpoint on July 3 at a liquor store near the Van Nuys Courthouse.

Ronald H. (Mike) Carroll, head deputy district attorney in the Van Nuys office, said Jordan is not being afforded any special treatment for her cooperation with authorities.

“We were not approached to give her any special favors, nor have we had any negotiations with her,” Carroll said. “She is charged with a serious felony and she will be prosecuted for it.”