The ex-girlfriend of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy has filed a federal lawsuit against the agency, on behalf of herself and two young daughters, alleging that the agency didn't take her complaints of domestic abuse seriously because of her boyfriend's job.
Our Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyers know that nobody is above the law, and an agency that offers special treatment to its own in criminal cases not only breaks its own code of ethics, but also the law.
The complainant asserts that the agency systematically denies justice to victims of domestic violence when the accused is someone who works as a law enforcement officer within the agency.
The complainant says that the deputy, who fathered her two daughters, now ages 11 and 6, began abusing her soon after the birth of their first child, back in 2003. She asserts that she left him for a time, but he begged for her to come back - a cycle with which domestic violence victims are well familiar.
Soon after she moved back in, the deputy reportedly resumed his behavior of drinking heavily, screaming at her and then hitting her. These actions often took place in front of the couple's young children. As such, the older child began to suffer injuries mental and emotional issues, which caused her grades to suffer significantly.
The complainant says that she called the sheriff's department, which had jurisdiction where they lived, to her home on numerous occasions to report the abuse. However, at no point was the accused ever arrested or even scolded by his supervisors. This was despite the fact that she frequently displayed bruises and other injuries to responding officers.
In one instance, she claims that the boyfriend's fellow deputies even assisted him in having her removed from their home, which was jointly-owned, after she called to report him for battering her.
In one specific incident in April 2012, she said her boyfriend began to scream at her for leaving a sandwich in the toaster oven while she was readying herself and the girls for church. In a rage, her boyfriend dumped an entire pot of coffee in the trash, grabbed and twisted her wrist and threw the sandwich at her. When she said she would call the police, her aggressor dared her, saying she would be the one arrested, not him.
She subsequently called her boyfriend's supervisor, a lieutenant, begging him to have someone come help. An officer arrived and, as the boyfriend had threatened, said she could be arrested for battery because the boyfriend alleged that she had thrown the sandwich at him. The officer reportedly refused to get statements from the children and told her to "stop acting like a victim" and simply leave if it was so bad.
Of course, anyone who has endured an abusive relationship knows it's not always so simple. In fact, leaving a relationship is often the most dangerous time.
The responding officer then told her if she did not pack her bags and leave the home, she would be arrested.
Other instances of abuse involved being struck in the eye with a large book, being threatened while her boyfriend drove drunk and recklessly and his refusal to transport her daughter to the hospital after she suffered a broken arm.
Yet after each reported incident, the responding officers sided with her boyfriend.
Her lawsuit seeks an injunction against him, as well as a declaratory judgment for battery, assault and gender violence.
If you have been a victim of wrong-doing by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department or the LAPD, contact The Okorocha Firm at 1-800-285-1763.
Additional Resources:
Mom Says L.A. Gives Abusive Deputies a Pass, June 14, 2013, By Rebekah Kearn, Courthouse News Service
More Blog Entries:
Los Angeles Deputy Accused of Brutality Against Inmate Informant, June 4, 2013, Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog
