Ex-Deputy to Let Judge Rule in Jail Sex Case : Courts: He is charged with aiding consensual contact. Attorney maintains that law applies only to inmates.

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy accused of having sex with a female jail inmate waived his right to a trial Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, opting instead to let a judge decide his fate, attorneys said.

Authorities allege that they videotaped Larry Fraize, 43, performing a sex act with an inmate during a sting operation in May. They also allege that they taped Fraize as he watched two female inmates have sex.

Fraize was subsequently charged with aiding and abetting a consensual sex act with an inmate, and aiding and abetting sexual contact involving two inmates.

When Fraize waived his right to a jury trial Wednesday, he allowed Superior Court Judge Judy Champagne to reach a verdict based on evidence presented during his preliminary hearing. A court date has been set May 24.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Yochelson, the prosecutor, predicted that the judge will convict Fraize and that he will be sentenced to probation, which could include up to a year in jail. A former bailiff at Van Nuys Superior Court, Fraize has since resigned from the Sheriff’s Department.

Paul Kinion, Fraize’s attorney, said that by allowing a judge to determine his fate, Fraize preserves his right to appeal, and that is what he plans to do if convicted, Kinion said.

Kinion has long maintained that Fraize could not be prosecuted for engaging in a consensual sex act because the law he is accused of violating applies to inmates.

“The law is clear that he should not be prosecuted,” Kinion said.

That is a point of contention with Yochelson, who maintains that Fraize can be prosecuted under the law as an accomplice to the sex acts.

“It’s a novel legal issue,” Yochelson said. “We’ll see how it gets resolved.”