Carona Is Accused of Sex Assault

In testimony before the Orange County Grand Jury this summer, the sister-in-law of an indicted former assistant sheriff testified that she had had sex with Sheriff Michael S. Carona during his first term in office, according to a recently unsealed transcript.

On Tuesday, Erica Hill -- a prominent figure in the unfolding criminal case against former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo -- elaborated. In an interview and in a letter to Orange County supervisors, the state attorney general and two members of Congress, Hill said she was a victim of sexual harassment and assault and asked them to investigate.

“I was the victim of Mike Carona’s relentless pursuit, and constant sexual harassment, assaults and battery,” Hill wrote in her letter. “And, with his position and his influence over the lives of those most important to me I felt powerless to protect myself and to expose him.”

Carona, who was married to his current wife at the time of the alleged encounters, has been seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. He immediately denied the allegation.

“I will say, on behalf of the sheriff, that any accusation by Erica Hill that there was a sexual encounter with the sheriff is a lie,” said Jon Fleischman, a department spokesman.

The sexual allegations have become a messy byproduct of a public corruption case against Jaramillo.

Hill and Jaramillo were arrested last year in connection with their relationship with a Newport Beach company, CHG Safety Technologies, which was seeking to win law enforcement support for a laser device designed to stop fleeing cars during police chases. Prosecutors alleged that Hill, a CHG employee, and Jaramillo, a paid consultant, misused county resources to stage several demonstrations to promote the product.

Charges against Hill were subsequently dropped when prosecutors decided to present the case to the grand jury.

In an effort to establish a motive for the alleged bribery, prosecutors asked about a sexual relationship between Jaramillo and Hill, suggesting that Jaramillo helped Hill land a job at the company in an effort to keep her happy.

Bribery and conflict-of-interest charges were later filed against Jaramillo. He maintains his innocence and is awaiting trial. Hill’s allegations of sexual trysts, however, could complicate the proceedings.

Hill’s allegations elaborate on testimony she offered to the grand jury. During questioning before the grand jury, Hill said she had “an inappropriate relationship” with Jaramillo when she was a teenager. She also revealed that she had been “inappropriately close” to Carona.

In her letter to the Board of Supervisors, Hill explained: “While I have been silent for many years I now recognize that men like Mike Carona prey on any weakness they perceive. For this reason I will no longer remain silent and rather will protect my family and myself by informing the public.”

In a nearly two-hour interview Tuesday with The Times, Hill discussed her letter to government officials and elaborated on her testimony to the grand jury. Hill wanted to clarify that she had never had sex with Jaramillo as a teenager and accused prosecutors of distorting her account during questioning before the grand jury.

Hill said Jaramillo introduced her to Carona around 1997 and that she had sex with him four times between 1999 and 2001. Hill said she gave into his advances after Carona said he would not hire her husband as a deputy if she didn’t have sex with him.

She said the first sexual encounter with Carona was in a hotel suite during the sheriff’s first inaugural party in 1999. Later, she said, they had three other encounters: in his truck, at his house and at the campaign office. Each time, Hill said, the sheriff promised he would hire her husband, a warehouse worker, to be a deputy.

She said that when her husband was rejected as a candidate, she confronted Carona. He told her Jaramillo was responsible for flunking her husband, she said. Hill and her husband are now separated.

Hill said she decided to go public because she was furious that grand jury transcripts that detailed her sexual history with Jaramillo were made public in the Orange County Register last weekend. Further, she said, she was angered that Carona had denied a sexual relationship during his testimony before the grand jury. She said she also felt she was in a better position to talk because the charges against her had been dropped and she had been granted immunity.

“If they want to make sex an issue, fine. We’ll make it an issue,” she said.