More Questions Surface About Sex Crime Cases Handled by Detective

News that a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department detective made mistakes in two cases could lead to more cases being challenged or reopened, local defense attorneys said Wednesday.

In a letter to local criminal defense lawyers last week, Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury said prosecutors found errors in cases prepared by Det. Kent Adlof, one of three sheriff’s detectives handling sex crimes in the east county.

“Although significant, these inaccuracies appear to be the result of misinterpretation by the detective and not a malicious effort to deceive,” Bradbury said in the letter.

Now one lawyer has raised questions about a third case. Attorney Bruce Jones filed a motion Wednesday contending that evidence obtained by Adlof might have tainted the case against a man he is defending.

Jones filed the motion hoping to postpone a trial scheduled to begin today until he can review Bradbury’s report on Adlof.

Jones declined to name his client, a Newbury Park man accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in late 1996. But he said Adlof’s handling of the case caused him concern.

“I do expect that in reviewing the report, I will discover even further and greater incidents of untruthfulness, possible error and . . . false reports by Det. Adlof,” Jones said in his motion.

Jones also represented one of two defendants whose cases Bradbury cited--a Santa Paula man charged with rape. That case was dismissed after Jones notified the district attorney about problems with Adlof’s investigation, he said.

Prosecutors also cited the case of William Clemens, the director of a Thousand Oaks day camp who was accused of sexual molestation. The district attorney declined to file charges in the case, citing insufficient evidence.

By late Wednesday, several other attorneys also had requested copies of Bradbury’s report on Adlof, said Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Janes.

The biggest question facing defense attorneys now is how many cases Adlof has handled and how many of them have similar problems. Defense attorneys met to discuss the issue Tuesday evening, said Phil Dunn, who serves on the board of directors for the County Defense Bar.

“It’s too early to tell how many cases might be affected,” said Dunn, who represented Clemens.

Meanwhile, Adlof, who has investigated sex crimes in the east county for the last two years, has been temporarily reassigned to a desk job pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation, according to his supervisor, Cmdr. Geoff Dean.

“He has an excellent work history,” Dean said of Adlof. “There’s never been anything to lead us to indicate that there would be any problems. We’ve instituted an investigation and we will thoroughly explore any cases or issues where there might be a problem.”