2 Deputies Accused of Rape Are Placed on Leave
Two Orange County sheriff’s deputies -- one a sergeant, the other a reserve lieutenant -- have been placed on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate allegations that they drugged and raped a woman at a Buena Park motel, police said Friday.
No arrests have been made, but Buena Park police will urge the district attorney’s office next week to file charges of rape by coercion, said Buena Park Police Sgt. Jim Banks.
“What we’re investigating and the case we’ll present will be rape and rape by coercion,” he said.
Rape or force under color of authority is a “component” of the investigation, he said.
Banks said that three investigators are working full time on the case.
The deputies, whose names were not released, work at the James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine.
They were placed on leave Wednesday, a day after the woman, the girlfriend of an inmate, reported to police that she had been lured to a motel July 5 and raped repeatedly over several days, police said.
The Sheriff’s Department is conducting an internal investigation.
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From Times staff and wire service reports
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