Former Deputy Accused in Sex Case Is Sued

A former Ventura County sheriff’s deputy, who quit the department last year after he was accused of forcing a woman to have sex, has been sued in federal court by another woman.

Moorpark resident Lanise Ward is accusing former Deputy Jose Araujo of numerous illegal traffic stops, false imprisonment, attempted rape under color of authority and malicious prosecution.

The alleged acts resulted in physical and emotional injuries to Ward and her two sons, according to the suit filed last month in federal court. It also names two other deputies, Ventura County and Sheriff Bob Brooks.

Araujo could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Alan Wisotsky, who is representing the county and Brooks, declined to discuss specific aspects of the accusations.

But he said Ward had been interviewed in the previous harassment case involving Araujo, and that “the information she gave at that point was different from what she’s now saying.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto agreed, and said the department would investigate Ward’s claims.

“Any time there’s allegations, we’re going to look into it,” he said.

According to the lawsuit, Araujo, a six-year patrolman who resigned from the Sheriff’s Department last April amid an internal investigation of the earlier case, met Ward at the club where she worked as a dancer.

In early September 2002, Araujo arrested Ward for driving with a suspended license and having an open container of alcohol, crimes for which she spent three days in jail, according to the lawsuit.

Araujo then stopped her 15 to 20 more times, and on each occasion asked questions such as, “Are you having sex with anyone?” the suit states.

Ward was afraid to rebuff Araujo because he knew she was driving without a license, according to the suit.

In late November 2002, Ward returned from an outing to find Araujo in her bedroom with her sister-in-law handcuffed on her bed, the suit states.

Araujo then produced some rock cocaine and methamphetamine and said he had found it in a drawer, according to the suit. Ward, who was about seven months’ pregnant at the time, denies that the drugs belonged to her.

She was arrested and taken to an interview room at a substation, where, according to the suit, Araujo said, “I’ll make a deal with you. You have sex with me and I’ll throw everything away and let you walk away.”

Ward refused, and then began having contractions, according to the suit. She was treated and then returned to Araujo, who booked her on two counts of possession of a controlled substance, the suit states.

The charges were dismissed seven months later, the suit says, but Ward meanwhile had lost her place on a subsidized housing list as a result.

Ward lived in a drug-recovery home from January through September of last year, the suit states, then moved in with her uncle in Moorpark.

In November, according to the suit, two other deputies arrived and asked Ward whether she was planning to file a suit against Araujo.

When she said yes, the suit states, one of the deputies warned her, “You’re on notice, we can get you, because we’re cops and we can do whatever we want.”

Twelve days later, after she filed a citizen’s complaint about the events, four other deputies arrived at Ward’s home and administered a drug test.

Although the results were deemed “indeterminate,” the suit states, she was arrested on suspicion of drug possession. Those charges are pending.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, without specifying an amount.

Late last year the county settled a federal lawsuit brought against Araujo by another former Moorpark resident. In that case, the county paid $162,500 to Jamie Sharples, who said Araujo had coerced sex from her several times in 2002 in exchange for his promise to protect her from drug and driving-related charges.

At the time of the settlement, a Sheriff’s Department investigation found that the sex, while inappropriate, had been consensual.