ICYMI
Sheriff Scott Jones accused of unwelcome sexual advances toward deputy [Excerpts]
The Sacramento Bee
By Christopher Cadelago
July 14, 2016
- Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a subordinate, activity he denied in a sworn statement, according to newly uncovered court documents from a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department claiming retaliation.
- Tosca Olives, at the time a 26-year-old sheriff’s deputy, said Jones, then a sergeant in legal affairs, was acting as her unofficial supervisor in the law library of the Main Jail in 2003. She said the contact started with Jones rubbing her shoulders while she took work-related phone calls.
- Over two years, she said in a deposition, the touching intensified to him reaching under her shirt. Olives said they engaged in mutual kissing and she contends Jones unzipped her pants and felt between her legs.
- The allegations against Jones, a Republican who is challenging Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, for his suburban swing district, are tucked in the voluminous records of a lawsuit brought by four female sheriff’s deputies who said they were retaliated against for complaining about discrimination and preferential treatment. In May, they were awarded a combined $3.6 million in damages. The county has said it will seek an appeal.
- …The 52-page document includes only portions of her account that support the plaintiffs’ positions. In it, Olives says she believes it was wrong of Jones to have a relationship with a subordinate, including several unwelcome contacts, but adds that she didn’t know how to respond appropriately in the situation.
- “And a lot of times, because I was young I felt embarrassed, or like I had brought it on myself and that I needed to engage in that activity because that was what was expected of me,” Olives said. She added: “I felt like because he was my supervisor that he was more in control and in charge of the situation than I was.”
- Jones declined interview requests though a Sheriff’s Department spokesman…and Jones did not respond to a message left on his personal phone.
- All told, Olives claimed about 30 inappropriate encounters from 2003 to 2005. She said in the excerpts that Jones rubbed her shoulders and on four occasions put his hands under her shirt. She said that one time, when she asked him to stop, Jones responded by saying “stop being so tempting.”
- But she said she “did not know how to respond appropriately.” “As I got older and wiser I learned that that is not okay, and how to not end up in those types of situations,” she said.
- While Olives didn’t file a formal complaint, she said she considered taking her grievances up the chain of command before Jones advised her against it. Olives said she went to Jones out of courtesy, and ultimately didn’t file a complaint because she feared negative job repercussions.
- …Olives said she was afraid she might receive retaliation for speaking out against the sheriff.