2 Riverside County Deputies Charged With Sex and Assault Crimes in Indio

Two Riverside County sheriff’s deputies were charged Monday with sexual assault of female inmates at the county jail in Indio.

Correctional Deputy Joseph F. Bessette, 42, of Yucca Valley was charged with 11 felony and four misdemeanor counts of committing sexual battery and/or having consensual activity with inmates.

Deputy John W. Burns is charged with nine felony counts of committing sexual battery and/or having consensual sexual activity with inmates.

Eight unidentified female inmates told investigators they were sexually assaulted, groped while being handcuffed or awaiting court proceedings, or forced to perform sex acts in exchange for clothing, toiletries or other living materials, according to the complaint filed in Riverside County Superior Court in Indio. Some said they had complied because they were afraid. One inmate said she had consensual sex with Bessette for a year.

Riverside County Assistant Dist. Atty. Sue Steding says that even when an inmate calls sex with a guard “consensual,” the act is a crime because it is “within a custodial facility, where it is deemed not a pure consensual situation.”

The maximum penalty for a single count of sexual battery is four years in prison; for consensual sexual activity with an inmate it is three years.

Arrest warrants were issued for both men, and they were expected to surrender to authorities within 24 hours, according to district attorney spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt. Bail was set at $75,000 for each man.

Bessette and Burns, along with a third deputy, were placed on paid administrative leave in June after an investigation showed sexual activity had begun as early as April. The third deputy will not be charged because of insufficient evidence.