Phoenix Police Officer Arrested for Multiple Sex Assaults, Released to Attorney

CHANDLER - A Phoenix Police officer has been accused of sexually assaulting three women in Chandler. He turned himself in and was interviewed on Tuesday.

Wednesday, Chandler police confirm that Ricardo Orosco was arrested. At first Chandler police say they interviewed that officer and let him go. Now they're saying they technically arrested him.

They fingerprinted him, took a mug shot, and released him to his attorney.

Phoenix Police Officer Rick Orosco has been accused of sexually assaulting three different women in Chandler within the last six months.

Chandler police say they arrested him but didn't take him to jail -- instead releasing him to his attorney.

A police spokesperson said: "The public is now aware of who he is and what he has been accused of and he is not a flight risk, there is not a need to book.”

Chandler police saying it's not uncommon for them to refrain from booking someone into jail when they know where to find them and they have been cooperative with investigators.

Phoenix police put Orosco on paid leave last Thursday.

Officials confirm that on Thursday they launched their own criminal and internal investigation into whether Orosco harassed or stalked a female employee working in the South Mountain Precinct – unrelated to the sexual assault allegations.

“Certainly it was serious enough that we put him on leave at his home, assigned to his home so certainly we’re not taking this allegation lightly,” says Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump.

Two years ago, Orosco was arrested after allegedly assaulting a girlfriend while off-duty. She told police he beat her after she refused to have sex with him.

The county attorney's office dropped the case, saying they didn't feel there was enough evidence to prosecute.

“There was a turn down, because of statements made by the victims that involved text messages where she stated she had lied about the allegations,” says County Attorney Bill Montgomery.

Orosco has been a Phoenix police officer for the past five years.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/investigative/police-officer-arrested-released-to-attorney-3-7-2012

Ex-Glendale officer barred from state law enforcement

A former Glendale officer accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to teenage girls and sexually abusing one of them is now barred from police work in Arizona.

The state Peace Officer Standards and Training Board on Wednesday voted to revoke Christopher Balmaceda's certification to serve as an Arizona officer.

Balmaceda, a 3 1/2-year officer, resigned from the Glendale Police Department in April.

Maricopa County prosecutors opted not to pursue a criminal case against him.

For two years, the married father worked off-duty at Mountain Ridge High school twice a month, usually providing security during the day. Balmaceda was removed from the job and assigned to administrative tasks in late January after a parent told police that his daughter's friends had received suggestive text messages from Balmaceda.

Mountain Ridge students told police that the 25-year-old officer sent at least four female students, ages 15 to 17, text messages from his personal cellphone.

Records obtained by investigators showed Balmaceda sent 3,600 text messages to five female students from September 2010 through January, according to an internal probe.

Detectives began a criminal investigation after a 17-year-old said Balmaceda had kissed and touched her one night in January after she met him at an abandoned Bashas' store in north Glendale while he was on duty.

Balmaceda admitted to police investigators that he had sent "numerous sexually explicit text messages" to the high-school students and that he had an encounter with the 17-year-old, according to a Glendale police report.

Balmaceda did not speak to detectives investigating potential criminal matters.

Police recommended Balmaceda be charged with one count of sexual abuse and four counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office later decided not to charge against Balmaceda, saying there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction. The county spokesman cited two reasons: the 17-year-old victim's comments that she was trying to get information from Balmaceda to report his wrongdoing and a cellphone provider couldn't provide the text messages Balmaceda sent.

In addition, Balmaceda's reported admissions during an administrative interview could not be mentioned in court due to federal laws, a county attorney's spokesman said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2011/11/18/20111118glendale-police-officer-barred-from-state-law-enforcement.html

Yuma officer fired, accused of demanding sex

YUMA - A veteran Yuma officer has been fired after he was accused of using his position to demand sex in exchange for help.

A grand jury indicted former Yuma police Sgt. Torrin Fannin Tuesday with one count of bribery of a public servant and one count of obstructing a criminal investigation.

The police department alleges the 36-year-old Fannin met the woman while responding to a call in November 2009. The sergeant had responded to other calls for assistance as well.

Yuma police spokesman Sgt. Clint Norred says the department believes the criminal sexual conduct occurred multiple times and began in early 2010 and continued through last month.

Fannin worked for the Yuma Police Department 10 years. He was terminated Oct. 18 for willful dereliction of duty, dishonesty and jeopardizing the public trust of law enforcement.

Norred was unable to say whether Fannin has legal counsel.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/10/26/20111026yuma-officer-fired-sex-case.html

No charges for ex-Glendale officer accused of 'sexting'

A former Glendale police officer accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to teenage girls and sexually abusing one of them will not be prosecuted.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office decided not to pursue a case against 25-year-old Christopher Balmaceda, who had worked off-duty at Mountain Ridge High School, despite a recommendation from police that he be charged with one count of sexual abuse and four counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.

"We determined there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction in this case," said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the County Attorney's Office.

He said prosecutors were concerned about the 17-year-old girl who said she was sexually abused. The teen said she aimed to report the officer's wrongdoing.

The teen told Glendale detectives that "her plan was to get enough information to tell someone what Christopher was doing," according to the police report.

Those statements made it difficult for prosecutors to prove a lack of consent to sexual abuse and explicit text messages, Cobb said.

The spokesman said prosecutors also believed they didn't have the evidence to charge the former officer with luring, as a cellphone provider couldn't provide the text of messages, only the number of messages between Balmaceda and students.

Sgt. Brent Coombs, a Glendale police spokesman, said detectives communicated with prosecutors early in the investigation and submitted what they believed to be a "very thorough investigation."

Glendale police launched an internal probe of Balmaceda in late January after a report that teens had received suggestive messages from Balmaceda.

Police found that Balmaceda, who worked at the school twice a month, had sent about 3,600 text messages to female students from September 2010 through January, according to an internal investigation.

Police began a criminal investigation after a 17-year-old said Balmaceda, a married father, had kissed and touched her in January after she met him at an abandoned grocery store while he was on duty.

Investigators confronted the officer.

"Balmaceda admitted to me that from September 2010 through January 2011 he sent numerous sexually explicit text messages to four female Mountain Ridge High School students for the purpose of gratifying a sexual desire," a Glendale sergeant wrote in an internal review.

According to the report, Balmaceda also admitted to the encounter with the 17-year-old. He submitted a resignation letter two days after the interview.

He did not speak to detectives investigating potential criminal violations. Federal law prevents prosecutors from discussing confessions or admissions during internal police investigations in court.

Balmaceda would not comment on the allegations or the latest decision.

Two former sex-crimes prosecutors raised questions about Maricopa County attorneys' decision not to charge the former officer.

The presence of multiple victims and Balmaceda's status as a police officer made this an important case to pursue, said Robin Sax, who spent 15 years as a sex-crimes prosecutor in Los Angeles.

"The touching plus the texts is way beyond what you would need for some charge," Sax said. "We hold people who take care of our children to a higher level."

Robert J. Campos, a Phoenix defense attorney who spent five years in Maricopa County's sex-crimes unit, said he was concerned by the officer's communications with at least four students.

Still, he acknowledged that prosecutors may have hesitated if the victim didn't seem credible.

"When you talk to somebody who's been a victim, you're either going to immediately believe them or you're going to be unsure," Campos said. "If at a gut level, I believed, I took it to trial and I always won those cases."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/10/04/20111004glendale-no-charges-ex-glendale-police-officer-accused-sexting-abuse.html

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's Son, Police Officer Jeff Gordon, Receives Four-Day Suspension for Sexual Acts Performed On-Duty, in Uniform

Phoenix Police Officer Jeff Gordon, son of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, received a four-day suspension after an internal affairs investigation revealed the junior Gordon was giving and getting oral sex and engaging in other sexual acts on several occasions in 2007 and 2010, while on duty.

Gordon admitted to some incidents, but there are other allegations that remain unresolved, according to police reports.

Among them are that on December 1, 2010, he had non-consensual sexual contact with a city employee. The allegation is that he slipped his hands under the blouse of a Phoenix employee and actually touched her breasts as he was giving her a massage -- while he was on-duty, and also sent her two pornographic video texts.

Gordon told investigators that he and the female employee were talking about how stressed out she was, and he started giving her a massage. He admitted that his hands moved from her neck and shoulders to her "upper chest" around her "clavicles" because "he believes it feels good when done to him and would serve as a good de-stressor."

He denied grabbing her breasts, but he did tell detectives twice that he "possibly" might have touched the tops of her breasts while he was massaging her.

The female employee told a different version:

"And all of a sudden (Officer Gordon) just went down with his hands, uh, under my blouse and into the bra. And I said, 'Hey, hey, hey.' I said, 'Watch it there.'"

She told detectives that he immediately withdrew his hands and asked her, 'What am I watching?' as he pulled the neckline of her shirt away from her chest as if he was looking down her shirt.

After the incident, he called her and asked her if they were okay, and the woman told cops that he asked if she was going to report him and "mentioned not saying anything to his wife."

Jeff Gordon got married in September 2010, three months before the massaging incident.

Prior to that incident, in January 2010, Gordon had sent the employee two pornographic video texts. When he was questioned, he said that if he did send them, it was an accident.

He told investigators that "he may have intended to send the texts to a friend immediately above or below" the woman's contact information in his cell phone.

While cops were investigating the incident with the city employee, they came across information that indicated Gordon was also engaging in sexual activity in 2007 or 2008 with women who worked at an apartment complex on his beat.

He French-kissed one employee during that time in the rental office at the apartment complex while both were on-duty.

Gordon admitted to kissing her while he was on the job and in uniform, but said it only happen twice.

And, in what appears to be a third incident, Gordon was performing oral sex on another woman inside one of the apartment complex models, also while he was on-duty.

She also performed oral sex on Gordon, and even displayed a picture he sent her of his penis on her office computer at the apartment complex.

While that employee denied doing anything more than hugging Gordon, he admitted to investigators that the two "fooled around."

"He described the encounter as oral sex that he and [the woman] performed on each other while on-duty in a vacant apartment. Gordon said he touched her breasts, and made direct contact, by hand, with each others genitalia," according to the investigative report.

Gordon said he did send her a picture of his penis, but said he sent it to her personal e-mail account. He also said he took -- and sent -- the picture while he was off-duty. He couldn't remember if sending the photo of his business was his idea or the apartment employee's idea.

In another incident, while he was on-duty, he and the second apartment complex employee were French-kissing and touching each others dirty bits inside a complex office.

Gordon met these women when he responded to a call for service at the apartment complex.

Another allegation that remains unresolved is that Gordon used the police department's computer database on two occassions in 2007 to get information about one of the women he was sexing while at work.

He says he did access her personal information, but only because she asked him to.

Gordon, who has been with the Phoenix Police Department for six years and is assigned to the Estrella Mountain Precinct, will serve his suspension from September 27 to September 30. He has 14 days to appeal his discipline.

Gordon was placed on paid administrative leave in January after allegations against him surfaced.

Phoenix police officials started investigating the junior Gordon in late December or early January. The investigation was delayed after Jeff Gordon -- who was installing hardwood floors at his home while on leave in April -- accidentally severed some of his fingers with a saw.

Sergeant Tommy Thompson, a police spokesman, said that Gordon's discipline was determined by a seven-member panel that includes members of the public, police officers, police commanders and an assistant police chief.

Read the full Internal Investigation
Read the summarized Notice of Finding

DPS officer accused of inappropriately touching woman at bar

An off-duty officer from the Arizona Department of Public Safety is accused of inappropriately touching a woman at a Flagstaff bar, authorities said.

A 30-year-old woman at the Greenroom Bar says she confronted a man after she was touched inappropriately on Saturday. She told bar employees, who then called police, according to the Flagstaff Police Department.

The man, 32-year-old Robb Gray Evans, identified himself to police as a DPS officer. He was charged with sex abuse and booked into the Coconino County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Evans, who has been a DPS patrolman for 11 years, is on paid administrative leave pending the Flagstaff police investigation, according to Capt. Stephen Harrison, a DPS spokesman.

DPS plans to have its own investigation, he added,

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/08/01/20110801arizona-flagstaff-dps-officer-arrested-sexual-assault-abrk.html

Mesa police: Officer used crime database to harass women

A Mesa police officer has been indicted on charges of misusing a law-enforcement database to date and harass women he met on duty.

One of the women was a theft victim, and others were suspects he had pulled over for traffic violations.

The indictment came just a week after another Mesa police officer and his wife were indicted on felony mortgage fraud charges in an unrelated case.

Mesa Police Chief Frank Milstead said he was "outraged" by the two cases and has placed both men on paid leave pending internal investigations.

Officer Todd Randall Duthie, an five-year veteran, was indicted on four felony counts of having unauthorized access to a state criminal history database and one misdemeanor count of harassment.

The charges stem from Duthie allegedly using his position to follow and score dates with four women, according to a police report.

Duthie's attorney Scott Halverson declined to comment on the case and Duthie did not return a message left at his Queen Creek home.

Mesa police initially opened an internal investigation last fall after one of the women complained, a police report states. But once an investigator found Duthie may have violated the law, a criminal investigation was opened, Wessing said.

Duthie contacted the first woman Sept. 15, 2009, after she reported a theft at the Las Palmas Carniceria at 7246 E. Main Street, the report states. The officer then began calling her and stopping by the store and the woman's residence.

A GPS system inside Duthie's squad car tracked his movements as he repeatedly parked outside another woman's house and as he continued to pull over two other women, who claim he tried to date them.

During a traffic stop with another woman July 8, 2010, Duthie reportedly said "I'm supposed to give you a ticket, but I won't. Since I'm not . . . let me have a date or something," the report states.

Duthie has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which came just a week after Officer Mark Anthony Escarcega and his wife Blanca were indicted on charges of mortgage fraud.

The charges stem from the purchase of a home in Mesa four years ago, authorities have stated.

Blanca Escarcega allegedly claimed she separated from her husband and received a mortgage loan modification from Bank of America stating the separation created a financial hardship, according to the Associated Press.

However, the couple never separated, and they purchased a new home and rented out the old one, court documents state.

Word of the Escarcegas' housing deal reached the department and, sensing a crime had been committed, the FBI was contacted, Mesa police spokesman Sgt. Ed Wessing said.

The Escarcegas have also pleaded not guilty.

Wessing said the department is trying to remain as transparent as possible with officer misconduct cases.

"The public doesn't need to worry that we have a corruption or misconduct issue. As an agency, we take these types of violation very seriously," he said.

Wessing added that Milstead was furious when he learned of the initial internal investigation into Duthie's activities.

"He was outraged that a member of our agency would conduct himself in that manner," Wessing said. "When an officer engages in misconduct like this, it impacts all of us. We are as outraged as the community is."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/04/28/20110428mesa-police-officer-indicted-charges-harrassing-women0428.html

Ex-officer barred from police work for 2 years

A former Tempe officer accused of pursuing romantic encounters while on duty has been suspended from serving as an Arizona police officer for at least two years.

The Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board on Wednesday voted to suspend the certification of Jared Blanchard, 26.

"He became preoccupied with females on many, many calls," AZPOST presenter Bob Irish said.

Jared's pursuit of romantic relationships clearly led to neglect of duty on at least two occasions. Irish said.

"There's something about this that makes me incredibly uneasy," said AZPOST board Chairman Joseph Duarte.

Blanchard, a sworn officer since March 2007, resigned in lieu of termination in August 2009.

In one case, Blanchard pulled over a 21-year-old single mother near Tempe Marketplace and cited her for expired registration and no proof of insurance, according to Tempe police reports.

Blanchard got her number from the citation and texted "you are the prettiest girl I've ever pulled over."

Blanchard said he later had sex with the woman. He also admitted to pursuing romantic encounters with at least three others he met while on duty, some of whom were victims of crimes, according to an internal investigation conducted by the Tempe Police Department.

Asked this week about the Blanchard case, Sgt. Steve Carbajal, a Tempe police spokesman, said, "Obviously, we take these incidents very seriously. It's totally inappropriate and unacceptable to meet women on duty or men on duty and cultivate relationships on duty."

Blanchard was placed on desk duty in February 2009 after his neighbor called Mesa police to report that Blanchard, while off duty, had grabbed her breast while in her apartment in May 2008. Blanchard insisted it happened while the two were playfully touching.

The neighbor said she smoked marijuana and had drugs in her apartment when Blanchard was there, though he never used any. Officers are obligated to act when a crime is taking place.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/10/24/20101024tempe-former-cop-sex-on-duty1023.html