Two Sheriff’s Deputies Charged by D.A. With Sexual Misconduct : Encinitas: One on-duty officer in North County allegedly committed acts of sexual battery; another is charged with attempted rape while off duty.

Two San Diego County sheriff’s deputies--both from the Encinitas station and hired at the same time--have been criminally charged in separate incidents of alleged sexual misconduct.

The district attorney has charged Deputy Gilberto Balcazar, 33, with sexual battery based on an incident last September in which he is accused of stopping a woman on a North County highway, getting into the passenger seat of her car and fondling her while he was on duty.

Balcazar is also charged with a felony count of false imprisonment for stopping the woman.

In another incident last June, it is alleged, Balcazar struck up a conversation with a woman in a parking lot while on duty and invited her to go to the beach with him, district attorney spokeswoman Linda Miller said.

He allegedly exposed himself and forced the woman to touch him and faces a misdemeanor battery count in connection with that allegation.

Balcazar also faces eight charges, one for each time he ran record checks of women--including the two who have made allegations against him--on the department’s computer between last June 9 and Oct. 17. An infraction is a minor offense akin to a jaywalking ticket.

If convicted on all counts, Balcazar could be sentenced to a maximum of five years and two months in prison.

Deputy Ray Johnson, 36, is charged with attempted unlawful intercourse with a 16-year-old girl and attempted rape of the girl, who prosecutors say was asleep at the time but woke up in time to fight Johnson off. Johnson was off duty at the time of the incident, which is alleged to have occurred last August.

Both charges against Johnson are felonies. If convicted, Johnson could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

The two deputies, who were placed on administrative leave, also face internal disciplinary actions which can range from suspensions to firing.

Balcazar’s attorney, Richard Mills, said the charges involving his client appear to be overblown.

“This case may be overcharged; it’s not a serious case,” he said. “That might offend some women, but if Gil was not a law enforcement officer, at best, he’d be charged with a low-level misdemeanor. Gil doesn’t know what the women have said. But he tells me that the incidents that did occur did not involve criminal activity on his behalf.”

Johnson’s attorney did not return telephone calls to his office.

Although Balcazar and Johnson both worked patrol in Encinitas and were hired in December, 1985, there appears to be no connection between the two incidents, sheriff’s spokesman Glenn Revell said Thursday.

“They knew each other because they worked together,” he said. “That’s about the only connection we know of.”

Revell said he is prohibited by law from revealing the disciplinary history of any deputy.

Sheriff Jim Roache said he became aware of the allegations shortly after taking office in January, while an internal affairs investigation was already under way, and the findings were just recently turned over to the district attorney’s office.

“The Sheriff’s Department will not tolerate misconduct by its members,” Roache said in a prepared statement. “Law enforcement officers must rise to a high standard of conduct. Those that violate the public trust will be dealt with accordingly.”

Roache suggested in his statement that there are other such cases under investigation, but spokesman Revell said “these are probably the more serious of the alleged misconduct cases.”

In the case of Johnson, prosecutors said he tried to have sex with a 16-year-old at the home of her 21-year-old roommate, whom Johnson was dating at the time. The district attorney’s office, which filed charges against Johnson Monday, said the woman was asleep at the time of attack and fought Johnson off.

Balcazar was charged Wednesday with the felony and misdemeanor counts. Neither women in either of the incidents that allegedly involved Balcazar filed a complaint but contacted friends who were police officers, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Dusek said.

Dusek said the district attorney’s office has sent letters to both men and their attorneys, notifying them of the charges and their arraignment dates. Johnson’s arraignment is in San Diego Superior Court April 17. Balcazar is scheduled to be arraigned in Vista Superior Court on April 16.

The district attorney’s office has prosecuted 38 police officers and convicted 25 since 1983, office spokeswoman Linda Miller said.