Ex-Officer Was Target of Molestation Investigation

The lead detective in a multiple rape case was himself investigated last fall for allegedly sexually molesting two teenage girls, according to confidential documents obtained Wednesday by The Times.

Even though prosecutors concluded that no criminal charges can be filed against former Ventura Police Det. Gregory W. Irvine, the development could undermine the case against an Ojai man suspected of raping three elderly women last summer.

Irvine’s attorney, James Farley, said the 47-year-old former officer, who resigned in February, is not guilty.

“I don’t care what the D.A.’s investigator came up with, my position is very simple,” Farley said. “[The allegations] are absolutely untrue.”

But the county prosecutor who investigated Irvine concluded that the veteran officer probably committed criminal acts over a nine-year period but cannot be charged because the provable offenses occurred so long ago.

“There can be little doubt that Greg Irvine engaged in criminal sexual behavior . . . over a significant period of time,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona wrote in a December memo to her superior, Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Kevin J. McGee.

“Regretfully, these incidents cannot be prosecuted due to statutes of limitations and emotional problems [by one girl] . . . which were most likely created by Irvine’s conduct,” Corona wrote.

Prosecutors maintained in court Tuesday that their case against accused rapist Peter A. Stocks will hold up without Irvine’s testimony.

But in a second confidential memo, a prosecutor close to the rape case informed Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury in January that Irvine’s testimony was essential to the Stocks prosecution.

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“In addition to being the investigating officer for one of the three cases, Det. Irvine played a crucial role in obtaining a confession from the defendant,” wrote Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Kelliher. “Since none of the victims can identify their assailant, the confession is ‘the case.’ ”

Irvine arrested Stocks in August and interviewed him for four hours at the Ventura Police Department. During that videotaped interview, Stocks confessed to two of the rapes, according to testimony by Irvine at a preliminary hearing.

Kelliher argued in Superior Court this week that the allegations against Irvine should have no bearing on the tape’s validity.

But defense attorney Susan Olson claimed that Irvine’s arrest of Stocks was improper because the unemployed construction worker was not properly read his Miranda rights. She is asking that the videotaped confession be ruled inadmissible and she intends to question Irvine’s credibility.

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In her memo three months ago, prosecutor Kelliher stated her own concerns about the detective’s credibility.

“The confession was obtained after Det. Irvine contacted the defendant in Ojai and asked if the defendant would voluntarily accompany him to Ventura to discuss a burglary case wherein defendant’s name had come up,” Kelliher wrote. “Whether or not that initial contact was voluntary depends on the credibility of Det. Irvine as no one else was present for the initial contact.”

Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. McGee declined comment on the memos Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Superior Court Judge Stephen Z. Perren ordered prosecutors to turn over detailed information about the Irvine investigation to the defense. Until that point, Stocks’ attorneys were only told that the former officer was the subject of a criminal investigation.

Perren said at a hearing Tuesday that he thinks the allegations against Irvine will never be revealed to the Stocks jury. And Kelliher argued that the case will hold up because three other officers were present when Stocks agreed to be interviewed by Irvine and one other officer witnessed most of the videotaped interview.

Perren directed attorneys Wednesday not to discuss the Irvine inquiry. Olson’s superior, Assistant Public Defender Duane A. Dammeyer, refused comment on the memos.

Ventura Police Chief Richard Thomas also declined to comment on Irvine, who spent 10 years on the force, except to say: “It’s a sad case.”

In prosecutor Corona’s Dec. 22 summary of her inquiry into allegations against Irvine, she details sexual molestation of two girls beginning as early as 1986 and continuing into 1995. The latest incident theoretically could still be prosecuted under the statute of limitations, but the evidence is weak, she said.

On 10 occasions, she wrote, Irvine allegedly molested the girls, one of whom was 12 years old at the time of the first encounter. The alleged molestation included nude massages and fondling, according to the memo.

The Ventura Police Department investigated a report of Irvine’s alleged molestation of one of the girls in mid-1995, the memo said. But friends and associates characterized the girl as emotionally unstable and not reliable, Corona wrote.

In recent months, however, Corona’s interviews with the second girl revealed similar allegations against the officer, the memo said.