Questions remain after jail suicide

01:21 AM PDT on Sunday, September 12, 2004 By RICHARD BROOKS / The Press-Enterprise

SAN BERNARDINO - An admitted child molester passed a mental health exam at a San Bernardino County jail barely a day before he committed suicide by diving off a second floor balcony, an official said Friday.

"This individual had been psychologically evaluated and had been deemed OK to go into the (protective custody) tank," Assistant Sheriff Mike Stodelle said of David Robert Putnam, who died soon after the Wednesday incident at West Valley Detention Center. "With the nature of the charges, they evaluated him when he came in."

No one was near Putnam at the time of the fall, and his 15-foot plunge clearly was intentional, Stodelle said.

"There's a handrail along a walkway for the (second-floor) cells. He stood up on the top rail and dove off, head first, (onto) a cement floor," said Stodelle. "There were some other inmates in their cells. He had been alone in the dayroom."

Putnam, 41, surprised Fontana police the day before his death by telephoning them and confessing that he had molested three boys, beginning about 20 years ago.

Since the confession, police have learned of four other possible molestation victims. Detectives were driving to the jail to question Putnam about those additional boys when they learned of the suicide.

Since 1983, 33 jail inmates have committed suicide in San Bernardino County, for an average of 1 ½ deaths per year, and suicides have not exceeded three in a year, according to the California Department of Justice's statistics center.

The motive behind Putnam's death remains unclear. He left no suicide note, Stodelle said.

Putnam's unsolicited confession marked the first time investigators had ever heard of the three assaults, said Sgt. William Megenney, of the Fontana Police Department.

"We had no reports (on those crimes) until he called and asked to speak to us," Megenney said. "I think he just felt he was going to get caught sooner or later. I don't know if he felt guilt about what he'd done and wanted to get it off his chest."

Putnam apparently met his victims through his work as a mentor with Big Brothers and the Boy Scouts, Megenney said.

Putnam may have taken the reasons for his confession and suicide to the grave, said a county psychologist.

"We can guess he either didn't want to ... go to prison and face the shame of being convicted as a pedophile, or (was motivated by) overwhelming feelings of guilt," said Ralph Ortiz, interim deputy director of adult services for the San Bernardino County Behavioral Health.

Ortiz's staff provides mental health services at the county jails.

Though he said he had no direct knowledge of Putnam's case, Ortiz said the suicide isn't proof that Putnam was mentally ill.

People suffering from fatal diseases sometimes commit suicide, he said, though they are not necessarily mentally ill.

"We'll never know why he chose to turn himself in," Ortiz said of Putnam. "We'll never know why he chose to end his life."

Reach Richard Brooks at (909) 806-3057 or rbrooks@pe.com

Molestation suspect kills himself in jail

01:40 AM PDT on Thursday, September 9, 2004 By JOHN F. BERRY / The Press-Enterprise

David Robert Putnam, the Boy Scout leader from Fontana arrested Tuesday on suspicion of sexually molesting at least three boys, committed suicide Wednesday inside a San Bernardino County jail, officials said.

"If an inmate is determined to do this kind of thing, then it's difficult to prevent," San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson said.

Sheriff's and coroner's reports said Putnam was in the dayroom of his housing unit inside the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday when he jumped from a second-floor tier.

Reports said Putnam suffered a head injury and was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. He was pronounced dead at 1:53 p.m.

Patterson said Putnam was supervised, but inmates are separated from guards by windows and electronic doors. He said he did not know more details about the suicide.

Putnam's 21-year-old stepson, William Rosenbrook, had little to say Wednesday evening in the driveway of his Fontana home.

"Everything is in limbo," Rosenbrook said.

Rosenbrook said his stepfather's occupation was to prepare disaster plans for a Los Angeles water district.

Putnam, 41, was arrested Tuesday after contacting Fontana police about wanting to confess to numerous incidents of child molestation.

Police said Putnam, who was married, was arrested on suspicion of sodomy, lewd acts with a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse and oral copulation.

Fontana Police Sgt. William Megenney said detectives would continue to investigate Putnam despite his suicide. He said four more possible victims might have been identified.

Police said the molestation began in 1985 with a 9-year-old while Putnam worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County.

Molestation of two other victims, both Boy Scouts from Fontana, occurred after Putnam became a Scoutmaster in 1999 or 2000, police said.

A regional Boy Scout executive said Tuesday that all Scout leaders must pass background and reference checks. He said he had not received any complaints about Putnam.

Rosenbrook said his stepfather had no criminal record. California prison records show no criminal history.

19 charged in bail scheme

12:26 AM PST on Friday, January 30, 2004 By JOHN F. BERRY / The Press-Enterprise

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, after a two-year investigation into a bail-bond kickback scheme, filed charges Thursday against 19 people, including three bail-bond company owners, a former sheriff's deputy and an attorney.

The scheme involved bail agents paying inmates for referrals while they were in jail, Deputy District Attorney Cheryl Kersey said by phone.

The ongoing investigation so far has focused on two companies: Tidwell Bail Bonds in San Bernardino and Boone's Bail Bonds, which has offices in San Bernardino and Fontana.

Daniel and Shirley Tidwell, who are husband and wife, co-own Boone's Bail Bonds. Daniel Tidwell, 59, was charged with embezzlement. Shirley Tidwell, 43, was charged with a notary violation and filing a forged document. They were both charged with unlawfully soliciting bail.

Steve Tidwell, owner of Tidwell Bail Bonds, was charged with unlawfully soliciting bail.

Brothers Daniel and Steve Tidwell are the sons of former San Bernardino County Sheriff Floyd Tidwell, Kersey said.

The Tidwells could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The other 16 people face a variety of charges, ranging from conspiracy to solicit bail to possession of an assault weapon.

Most of the 19 charged were inmates or worked for bail-bond companies, officials said. Also among them were Attorney Geoffrey Newman, of Rancho Cucamonga, and Mike Steele, of Hesperia, a former sheriff's deputy. They could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Notices were sent to the 19 to appear in court on Feb. 18 or had warrants issued for their arrests.

Honest bail firms lost business because of the kickback scheme, Kersey said. The investigation is continuing, she said.

Six San Bernardino County sheriff's officials and two investigators from the California Department of Insurance have been working on the case for about a year, she said.

Average California County Inmate's Local Call Home Costs More than $3.50

August 22, 2004 By Kim Curtis and Bob Porterfield ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO – Telephone companies and California counties have made hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the state's poorest people through high, unregulated phone rates for calls from local jails, an Associated Press investigation has found.

The average California county jail inmate's local call home costs more than seven times as much as a 50-cent pay phone call. It adds up to more than $120 million a year in phone bills for families and friends of county inmates statewide. The inflated rates they pay make service contracts with jails so lucrative that carriers offer counties signing bonuses, nearly $17 million in the case of Los Angeles County.

For many, the cost of contact with loved ones is a hardship. And while counties are supposed to spend their share of the money on inmate welfare, the law gives sheriffs wide discretion and much of the money goes to salaries.

"It's a gouging of family members, those who have never committed a crime," said Charles Carbone, a lawyer with Prison Focus, a prisoner rights group in San Francisco.

Inmates and their families have few options. Regular contact is possible only through highly restricted visits and phone calls out, which must be made by inmates, either collect or with special calling cards.

Jail phone contracts, unlike those governing the rates of residential users, are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission or the Federal Communications Commission.

California counties received more than $303 million in revenue from collect calls, calling cards and signing bonuses over five years, according to information the AP gathered through the California Public Records Act from each of the 57 California counties with jails.

Telephone companies defend the high charges, claiming specialized equipment and security features such as call blocking and monitoring are needed in jails. Six companies provide most of the phone service to California's county jails; San Antonio-based SBC Communications is the largest.

SBC spokeswoman Bridget Stachowski refused to further explain the higher rates, saying only that jail telephone systems are "more complex."

Financial records gathered under the Public Records Act show the phone calls provided counties with income that ranged from $100 to $1,376 per inmate in 2002-03, the last fiscal year AP examined. The counties receive about half the profit from each call.

Many sheriffs see the phone money as an easy way to fill budget gaps, San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey said. "(Some sheriffs say), 'Why do I care what the rates are? I don't have to pay them.' " he said.

Inmate welfare funds were established by law in 1949 to use phone and commissary revenue to remedy a lack of jail programs such as education, drug and alcohol treatment, counseling and chaplain services. Amendments in 1993 and 2000 allow the money to be used for jail maintenance if the sheriff decides inmate welfare needs have been satisfied.

Nick Warner, legislative director for the California Sheriffs Association, said mundane expenses like fixing plumbing or repairing a roof also contribute to an inmate's well-being.

The state's limited oversight ended in 1998. While sheriffs must submit a yearly report to county supervisors, it's unclear whether the boards examine them. Some of the few audits done by counties in recent years raised concerns about inadequate spending controls and bookkeeping.

Jail worker suspected of sex acts with minor

By MELISSA PINION-WHITT, Staff Writer

A civilian jail employee has been arrested on suspicion of committing ex acts with a 15-year-old Yucaipa girl, authorities said Thursday. aniel Leonard Aul, 22, of Ontario was arrested without incident ednesday at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles here he was employed as a custody assistant, sheriff's officials aid.

Ontario police Cpl. David McBride said his office began investigating ul on Tuesday when someone contacted police.

"The investigation centered around incidents that occurred between ay and June of this year,' McBride said.

Aul was arrested on suspicion of unlawful sex with a minor, oral opulation and penetration with a foreign object. He was booked into est Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga where he was held in ieu of $100,000.

Police said there was more than one encounter between Aul and the een, but only one of the incidents occurred in the 3000 block of ast Fox Glen Loop in the Creekside area of Ontario, McBride said.

Detectives were expected to present their case to the San Bernardino ounty District Attorney's Office on Thursday.

Aul began working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department at win Towers on Dec.2, 1999, sheriff's Deputy Bill Spear said. Aul's uties at the jail did not involve contact with prisoners, such as he booking of inmates, Spear said.

Inmate Challenges Religion-Based Recovery Program as Parole Condition

Prison officials are promoting faith-based, 12-Step programs for inmates -- and pushing religious belief and dependence. But one Atheist "Refusnik" wants a secular alternative...

Web Posted: January 16, 1998

New Hampshire prison inmate has become the latest nonbeliever "refusnik" to challenge participation in a religion-based alcohol treatment program as a condition of parole and sentence reduction. Bill Yates, a former heroin addict now serving time in the New Hampshire State Prison, wants the secular Rational Recovery program available for inmates, and has refused to participate in an Alcoholic Anonymous 12-step program administered by a group called Summit House. He charges that prison officials will not reduce his sentence until he submits to the "spiritual" recovery program, and will probably be turned down next October when his case is brought up before the parole board.

Yates told the Concord (N.H.) Monitor newspaper this past week, that "Alcoholics Anonymous is religious, and the prison cannot hold anybody back from freedom because they failed to attend an unequivocally religious process." He also criticized the AA view that all addictions involve a life- long recovery process, and says that he has simply "quit" his addiction cycle.
 
The justices noted that "God" is mentioned in five of the twelve steps which are included in the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program, and that AA meetings were "heavily laced with at least general religious content..."

That's the view of Rational Recovery; the group's co-founder, Lois Trimpey, told the Monitor that, "The worst way to quit something you love is to do it one day at a time. You have to take the high dive and get it over with."

Regardless of which view is correct, though, secularists charge that the state -- and the prisons -- have no business promoting religious belief as a condition for parole or other consideration. But prison officials claim that the AA program is not religious, but "spiritual." That doesn't stop Steve Kenney, director of substance abuse services for the New Hampshire Department of Corrections from criticizing a program which doesn't acknowledge the ultimate power of a deity. "The people who created Rational Recovery, as far as I can see, have problems with God," he said. "They can't separate out God from spirituality. They don't like the idea of being powerless. If you're an alcoholic, the fact remains, you are powerless."


Courts: AA Is Religion Based

The courts have taken a different view, however, and inmates across the country are lodging cases -- and winning -- against 12-step programs that refer to higher powers, god and spirituality. In June, 1996, for instance, the New York State Supreme Court upheld the case of David Griffin, an atheist, who said that government was promoting religion by requiring participation in Alcoholics Anonymous as a condition for parole. In a 5-2 decision, the justices found that Alcoholics Anonymous "engages in religious activity and religious proselytization," and that prison officials violated Griffin's constitutional rights by trying to coerce him to participate.

"A fair reading of the fundamental AA doctrinal writings," said the majority, discloses that their dominant theme is unequivocally religious... Adherence to the AA fellowship entails engagement in religious activity and religious proselytization."

The Justices noted that "God" is mentioned in five of the twelve steps which are included in the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program, and that AA meetings were "heavily laced with at least general religious content." Judge Howard A. Levine, writing for the majority, said that the decision was not meant to end AA programs for inmates who voluntarily participated but was designed to uphold the rights who had their civil liberties violated by prison officials.


Yates: Fighting Drugs and Religion

Mr. Yates, 38, says that he has had an on-and-off relationship with drugs, but due to choice, not "powerlessness" before an addiction. He says that Rational Recovery worked for him, and cites the prevalence of drugs behind prison walls as an example of how he can so "no" to the substances. He applauds the RR program since it doesn't require endless "support group" sessions.

But nationwide, prisons are not enthusiastic about the Rational Recovery approach. According to the Monitor, no prison system in the U.S. has instituted an RR program, although religion and "spirituality" based programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous abound.

Lois Trimpey of Rational Recovery told AANEWS today that her organization has received information requests from "thousands of inmates" who are seeking information on the program, and an alternative to the religion-based "brainwashing" of Alcoholics Anonymous. She estimates that inmates are currently operating over two-dozen self-help programs throughout the nation's prison system which are based, in part, on the Rational Recovery teachings.

Trimpey also says that the AA program is far from a success. "Based on their own figures, it's estimated that out of every 100 persons who start off in an Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step program, 50 are gone by the end of the first month, and 75 by the third month. Five out of 100 complete the full program."

"Alcoholics Anonymous is a counterfeit religion," said Trimpey. "It's corrupted the medical establishment, psychology and the penal system with its claim that alcoholism is a 'disease' before which we are 'powerless.'"

She noted that in the case of Mr. Yates, in order to fulfill the requirement of State Prison officials, he would have be in the AA program for up to a year. But that program -- administered by a group called Summit House -- has a 24-36 month long waiting period. "Bill Yates would have to be in prison for another three or four years before he could get out, even though he has a clean record and has been an exemplary inmate."


Other Court Challenges

On November 10, 1997, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step programs "indisputably raise the question of establishment of religion." In EVANS v. THE BOARD OF PAROLES, state justices noted the coercive elements involved in the AA program, and reversed a lower court ruling which required inmates to participate in the 12-Step regiment.

Another case occurred in June, 1997. The Federal District Court of Southern New York reinstated the earlier decision, WARNER vs. ORANGE CO. DEPT. OF PROBATION, and said that the plaintiff's rights were violated by forcing an Alcoholics Anonymous program on him. Judge Gerald Goettel described AA as "deeply religious," and singled out the County's stubborn refusal to acknowledge the religious elements in the 12-Step program. "I am at a loss to understand this," said the judge.

WARNER involved the 1994 conviction of a New York man who had been convicted of a drunk driving offense, and was sentence to an Alcoholics Anonymous program as an "alternative" to a prison sentence. The court ruled that his First Amendment rights had been violated since the State was "coercing the plaintiff to participate in religious exercises, an act which tends toward the establishment of a state religious faith."


A Larger Trend... Back To Goddism!

Penal authorities and politicians seem to approve of the wider use of religious ideology at "treating" and "reforming" inmates; but critics charge that these 12-Step programs, with their emphasis on acknowledging deities and believing in one's "powerlessness," are a form of control and even brainwashing. And important constitutional questions are involved; should government be establishing a religious litmus test for inmates as a condition of parole?

There is also a question of funding. In the New Hampshire case, the Summit House program is reportedly funded with public Medicare monies. There is the prospect of wider abuse, though, as prison gates swing open to "faith based" ministries, like Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministry. In Texas, the Colson group now has control of the Jester Unit of the state prison system, where it is operating a religion-based rehabilitation program for select inmates. While the initial costs of the program could run as high as $1.5 million and are being "donated" by Colson's outreach, there are rumblings that following the trial run at Jester, costs may be shifted to the state. The State of Texas already covers some peripheral expenses, such as the housing, foods and security for the 100 to 200 inmates participating.

Colson and other religionists say that their Bible-based rehab programs are "restorative justice," not a violation of the First Amendment.

"Faith-Based Treatment" Director Boasts Conversion of "Completed Jews"

Web Posted: May 28, 2001

Despite President Bush's claims that his faith-based initiative is not intended to promote religion or evangelize those seeking social services, the director of a prominent drug rehab program told a congressional group on Wednesday that Jewish clients in his program were converted to fundamentalist Christianity.

John Castellani, executive director of Teen Challenge International, a Christian substance abuse program, made the offensive remarks before a panel of the House Government Reform subcommittee which has been exploring the effectiveness of faith-based social programs. Rev. Mark Souder (R-IN) asked Mr. Castellani if the group employees non-Christians on its staff, or accepts clients of other religious persuasions. Castellani then commented that some of the Jews who complete the Teen Challenge program become "completed Jews," a phrase common in fundamentalist circles to refer to those who convert to Christianity.

Castellani also told officials that while Teen Challenge welcomes government funding, the group would not take public money if it was required to change the structure of its program which includes emphasis on religious conversion.

"We're out to tell them (addicts) what we feel is correct as far as we understand Christianity, and that Christianity is a big part of our therapy..."

Following his congressional testimony, a nervous Castellani was in spin mode over his insensitive and sectarian remarks. "In a sense, it's a compliment," he told reporters. "They're not a Christian, they're still a Jew. They've just found another part of themselves. I thought I was being kind ... Evidently I'm in error, I apologize for that."

Jewish leaders immediately criticized Castellani. Rabbi David Sapperstein of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism said that the comments made it clear that the Bush faith-based initiative would lead to public funding of activities which stressed religious conversion.

"They engage in activities aimed at bringing them (clients) to Jesus. That's fine, but it shouldn't be done with government money.

Abraham Foxman of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League told the New York Times that Castellani's testimony "clearly illustrates the concern we have that there is no way to separate the efforts to proselytize from the efforts to reform people."


BUSH -- GOVERNMENT CHEERLEADER FOR FBOs, TEEN CHALLENGE

As Governor of Texas and a candidate for the White House in 2000, Mr. Bush was a staunch supporter of the Teen Challenge organization, and cited its religion-based rehabilitation program as proof of the efficacy of FBOs or "faith-based organizations." Addressing a church audience during the recent campaign, Bush declared: "We need to have mentoring programs energized by government, paid for by government, but who exist not because of government. Teen Challenge is a way to get people off drugs and alcohol. Teen Challenge is a faith-based program that changes people's hearts..."

"WE'RE OUT TO TELL THEM (addicts) THAT WHAT WE FEEL IS CORRECT AS FAR AS WE UNDERSTAND CHRISTIANITY, AND THAT CHRISTIANITY IS A BIG PART OF OUR THERAPY..."
-- John Castellani, Teen Challenge Executive Director

Bush began supporting Teen Challenge when in 1995 a state regulatory agency sought to close a rehab center operated by the group for various violations. The governor then sponsored a series of laws exempting faith-based drug recovery programs from state scrutiny, and regulations that apply to their secular counterparts.

There have been serious questions, though, about Teen Challenge's claims of high success rates, and its accountability. A report on the beliefnet.com web site last September, for instance, noted "Of the 130 Teen Challenge centers in the United States, only 14 elected to join the Washington, DC-based Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a sort of Consumers Union for evangelical charities."

An administrative assistance at one Teen Challenge office declared that financial accountability "isn't our priority."

The various Teen Challenge centers report directly to a national office in Pennsylvania, and last year raised about $50 million. It is not known, though, how much of this comes from a bewildering array of state "faith-based partnership" grants and other programs that direct public money into FBOs.

Questions have also been raised about Teen Challenge's astounding claims of success in treating drug and alcohol addiction. Broadsides from the group claim "widely-heralded success spanning more than 40 years" since the organization was founded in 1958 by a minister, David Wilkerson.

Wilkerson, a self-described "country preacher" from rural Pennsylvania said that he saw a story in "Life" magazine about urban street gangs, and "felt a compelling urge to go to New York" and open up a ministry. The outreach began as an evangelization effort, but Wilkerson quickly fused his hard-shell Bible message with efforts to wean drug and alcohol addicts. Teen Challenge cites studies indicating that 88% of program graduates consider the outreach "the most beneficial in their lives." The religious nature of the rehab regimen is clear, though; according to Teen Challenge, sixty percent of program graduates become members of a local church, and 76% attend church services on a regular basis. A report by Capitol Research noted:

"Ninety-two percent claimed that Teen Challenge had a great impact on their lives. Eighty percent credited their ability to abstain from drugs to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The statistic that speaks volumes, however, is the abstention rate. A full 67% of respondents were completely abstaining from drugs and alcohol..."

As with other FBOs, though, sanguine claims of high success rates inevitably depend on anecdotal accounts, or "cooked" statistics coming from the service providers themselves.

"Nobody knows whether FBOs work even as well as traditional drug rehabilitation programs, which all have a high rate of recidivism," noted the beliefnet.com profile on Teen Challenge.

"There has not yet been any research that gives clear evidence that faith-based partnerships are more effective than current models," adds Dr. Mark Chaves, a sociologist at the University of Arizona who has been scrutinizing claims by religion-based social service groups. "Powerful voices are saying that it's OK to be marginalized, and we'll publicly fund you."

Similar concerns are raised by sociologist Fred DeJong of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Though he considers himself to be an evangelical Christian, DeJong and colleague Beryl Hugen say that in cases where they have examined the claims of phenomenal success from faith-based program, all contained serious flaws in the methodology and reporting.


BUSH -- A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH TEEN CHALLENGE

All of this suggests that President Bush's faith-based initiative may be not only constitutionally suspect, but a huge entitlement program lacking in rationale and oversight. Bush has repeatedly insisted that his effort to involve churches and other houses of worship is "the next step in welfare reform," and could even replace the traditional model of having government provide an array of services to those in need. On Thursday, for instance, Bush told an audience at a Roman Catholic school in Cleveland, "We should fund the armies of compassion, we should not discriminate against faith-based programs."

"My administration will be more supportive of the good works done here than any administration in the history of this country because I understand the power of faith, that faith can change lives."

Faith-based groups, though, like Teen Challenge may be asking for federal tax dollars, and an exemption or legal shield from the sorts of inspection and accountability measure that secular providers must endure. Under the 1996 welfare reform act, "charitable choice" programs were open to religious groups who were empowered to seek public funding of their faith-based outreaches. Teen Challenge and other sectarian providers, though, can flaunt a number of anti-discrimination statutes, by using religion as a litmus test in hiring practices, and even require participants to practice a certain religion. Jerry Nancy, a Teen Challenge CEO told the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice on February 17, 2000 that all of the ministry's treatment centers "require mandatory chapel time" and other religious practices.

"I'm hoping that Teen Challenge will not have to go through the licensing procedures that clinical organizations have to go through," John Castellani told the Assemblies of God "Mission America' meeting last year. "President Bush loves any program that helps people change their lives," he added. "That's why he loves Teen Challenge."

Indio Jail Sex Probe: 3 Deputies on Leave

Investigation may end in criminal charges. Acts with inmates were likely consensual, sheriff says.

By Lance Pugmire, Times Staff Writer

Three male Riverside County Sheriff's deputies have been placed on administrative leave for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with female inmates at the county jail in Indio, authorities said Tuesday.

Sheriff Bob Doyle said the inappropriate sexual contact was discovered in May when jail authorities reviewed "monitored communications" among inmates, although he declined to say whether those included telephone conversations or inmate letters.

Doyle said the investigation has shown that the sexual activity began as early as April.

"We don't think it had gone on too long, and we think the pool [of deputies and inmates involved] was limited," Doyle said. "We've been investigating this for a while, and we've come up with three deputies, and we think that could be it."

Doyle and a sheriff's spokesman declined to discuss the specifics of the allegations.

Sheriff's spokesman Earl Quinata described the alleged misconduct as "criminal," and said that the findings from the sheriff's internal investigation unit would be forwarded to prosecutors for a review and could result in charges being filed as soon as next week.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney said sexual contact between inmates and guards is a felony, because state law forbids law enforcement officers from abusing the power of their position to engage in sex with inmates, whether consensual or forced.

Doyle declined to say whether other deputies were aware of the alleged misconduct and failed to report the crimes. He said the investigation showed that the sexual contact between the guards and the inmates appeared to be consensual.

"Again, this [investigation] started because of monitored inmate conversations; no [inmate] came to us complaining about it," Doyle said. "So far, it would appear to be [consensual]."

The investigation has included "a significant amount" of interviews with Indio jail inmates, including those who have been subsequently released or transferred to state prison, Doyle said.

Task Force on Jail Slayings Appointed

June 16, 2004 By Anna Gorman, Times Staff Writer

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley on Tuesday named the members of a citizen task force to review recent slayings in the County Jail system and to make recommendations on improving witness protection.

The task force will submit its suggestions to the Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Lee Baca by mid-August, Cooley said.

Members plan to analyze jailhouse killings and attacks and review several recent civil grand jury reports on the jails. They also will address witness protection outside the jail.

Named to the task force were Clayton Anderson, Oreal Cotton, Elizabeth A. Dickinson, Alex Jacinto, Rosario Marin, George Nicholaw and eight members of Cooley's staff, who will have an advisory role.

Anderson is former chief of the district attorney's Bureau of Investigation, where he spent 30 years. He also directed the investigative office of the State Bar of California and served as a civil grand jury foreman.

Cotton served as the assistant chief of the district attorney's Bureau of Investigation and worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Dickinson is a former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and chief of the department's detective division. She worked at the department for 36 years.

Jacinto is a defense attorney and member of the Mexican American Bar Assn.

Marin served as U.S. treasurer and as Huntington Park mayor and councilwoman. She recently lost a primary race to oppose U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat

Nicholaw worked at KNX-AM (1070) for 36 years, serving as vice president and general manager. Best-known for his on-air editorials, he left the station in October