Four girls between the ages of 4 and 13 were sexually abused by a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officer. The deputy was given 40 years in state prison.
On Friday, Sean Essex, 53, pleaded not guilty to three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and one count of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14. This was announced by District Attorney George Gascón in a news statement. At first, the news statement said that Essex had pleaded guilty. Later, it said that he had pleaded no contest.
In the release, Essex also said that he abused one person who was “especially vulnerable” and took advantage of the fact that he was trusted.
The first girl was abused in 2006, and the last three were abused from 2013 to 2022 as per KTLA.
Gascón said, “The horrible sexual abuse that Mr. Essex did to these young victims has not only broken his oath as a police officer to protect and serve the community, but it has also left these children with trauma that will last a lifetime.” “Children have a right that can’t be taken away: to be safe and protected.” It takes a lot of bravery for the victims to come forward and talk about how Mr. Essex abused them.
Essex had been a deputy sheriff for 22 years and was working in the training bureau when he was arrested in April 2022.
He will have to show proof that he is a sex offender and pay the victims back, though the exact amount has not been decided yet.
The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that when they heard about the claims in April 2022, they “immediately opened an internal criminal investigation into the matter.” Essex quit his job with the department in November 2022.
The outrageous actions of this person are not in line with the values of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department or the dedicated police officers who serve our neighborhoods with honor every day, the statement said. “The Department expects all of its employees to act in the most honest, moral, and professional way possible. Members of the department who do anything wrong, especially crimes against vulnerable groups, will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”