The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission is pushing for an investigation into last month’s erroneous claim by the Sheriff’s Department that commissioners had overturned the firing of a deputy charged with sexually assaulting four girls.
Sean Essex, 51, who faces 33 criminal counts, hasn’t been terminated by the Sheriff’s Department nor has he ever appeared before the Civil Service Commission to appeal a disciplinary matter, said Craig M. Hoetger, the commission’s executive director.
“The Civil Service Commission, which has sole jurisdiction over termination appeals of Los Angeles County employees, including Sheriff’s Department employees, has not taken any action with respect to Mr. Essex’s employment status,” Hoetger told the Southern California News Group on Wednesday, Aug. 31. “In fact, Mr. Essex has never filed an appeal with the Civil Service Commission, which is the only way the commission would have authority to issue an order regarding his employment.”
Essex remains on leave from the Sheriff’s Department without pay.
Hoetger said he has asked the county Board of Supervisors to look into the “false and defamatory misrepresentations” the Sheriff’s Department made in a series of statements widely disseminated by the media.
A spokesperson for the supervisors confirmed the board has been contacted by Hoetger and is looking into the matter.
Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors has contacted the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General, which provides oversight for the Sheriff’s Department, Hoetger said.
‘No attempt to hide facts’
The Sheriff’s Department said in a Thursday statement it did not intentionally mislead journalists and the public regarding Essex’s employment status.
“The department believes in transparency and there was no attempt to hide facts,” the statement said.
A Los Angeles County grand jury returned an indictment Aug. 9 charging Essex with 18 counts of oral copulation of a child, 12 counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and one count of possession of material depicting a child sex act.
The alleged offenses involved victims ranging in age from 7 to 13 and occurred from 2006 through this year. Essex faces multiple life sentences if convicted.
“Sexually assaulting a child not only robs them of their innocence but also leaves lasting mental trauma,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. “This is one of the most egregious crimes my office encounters and it is made worse when the crime is committed by someone who has been entrusted to protect them and our community from harm.”
Contradictory statements
A series of media advisories issued by the Sheriff’s Department after Essex was indicted contains contradictory statements.
The department’s initial statement on the evening of Aug. 10 said Essex was investigated in 2018 by the Internal Affairs Division while assigned to the Training Bureau.
“After a criminal and internal investigation, Mr. Essex was terminated,” the statement said. “The Civil Service Commission, which is independent of the Sheriff’s Department, overturned the Sheriff’s Department termination and the Sheriff’s Department was ordered to reinstate Mr. Essex. The Civil Service Commission, over the objections of the Sheriff’s Department, ordered him returned to his assignment at Training Bureau.”
Within an hour, however, the Sheriff’s Department modified its initial statement, with a new advisory stating that after the 2018 investigation Essex’s bonus pay was removed. There was no mention of his termination. However, like the first statement, the advisory again claimed that despite the Sheriff’s Department’s opposition, the Civil Service Commission reinstated Essex.
In yet another statement on Aug. 23, the Sheriff’s Department told the Southern California News Group that the Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission, which regulates labor disputes, had overturned the removal of Essex’s bonus pay and ordered his return to the Training Bureau.
Deputy sought arbitration
The Employment Relations Commission is separate from the Civil Service Commission, which is the appellate body for major disciplinary actions, discharges, reductions, suspensions in excess of five days, and discrimination complaints from county workers in the civil service system.
The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs filed a request for arbitration with the Employee Relations Commission on Sept. 10, 2018, on behalf of Essex, according to heavily redacted records obtained by the Southern California News Group.
Information was not provided regarding the nature of the dispute or the outcome of the arbitration. The Sheriff’s Department declined to release disciplinary and internal investigative reports for Essex.
The Civil Service Commission first learned of the Sheriff’s Department’s contradictory statements from the Southern California News Group, which filed a public records request with the agency for all documents relating to Essex’s purported firing and reinstatement, Hoetger said.
“It is unclear to me why this readily verifiable information was released by the Sheriff’s Department, which has access to the civil service records of its employees,” Hoetger said. “Moreover, had the Sheriff’s Department contacted the Civil Service Commission prior to releasing this statement, we would have confirmed that Mr. Essex has never filed an appeal with the commission.”
Hoetger plans to send a letter to Sheriff Alex Villanueva demanding an explanation.
The Sheriff’s Department told the Southern California News Group on Thursday that many times it “substitutes statements or provides updated statements for questions and inquiries as facts are gathered.”
History of disputes
The Sheriff Department has a history of squabbling with the Civil Service Commission and county supervisors over controversial personnel matters.
In 2020, a judge overruled Villanueva’s attempt to rehire former Deputy Caren Carl Mandoyan, who had been fired over domestic violence allegations. Mandoyan, who worked on Villanueva’s election campaign, had been fired in 2016 by then-Sheriff Jim McConnell.
Villanueva defended his decision to reinstate Mandoyan and accused the Civil Service Commission of ignoring evidence that could have exonerated the former deputy.
The county supervisors filed a petition to block Mandoyan’s rehiring.