Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced for Sexually Battering Female Driver

A San Diego County sheriff’s deputy who admitted to sexually battering a female motorist he pulled over while on duty last year has been sentenced in Superior Court to 30 days of public service, such as picking up trash along highways, to be followed by 300 hours of community volunteer service.

Additionally, Gilberto Balcazar was fined $250, ordered to pay $250 in restitution, must undergo counseling and remain on probation for five years, Superior Court Judge Allan J. Preckell said Tuesday.

Preckell said Balcazar had “tarnished the badge of every law enforcement officer in this community.”

The county Probation Department had recommended that Balcazar--who resigned as a deputy after the charges were filed--be sentenced to six months in jail.

But both Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Dusek and defense attorney Rick Mills said they feared for Balcazar’s safety if he were put in jail.

Balcazar, 33, had pleaded guilty to one felony count of sexual battery for stopping a 23-year-old woman on a North County highway, getting into the passenger seat of her car and fondling her while he was on duty.

In exchange for his plea, the district attorney’s office dropped a misdemeanor count charging him with exposing himself to a 33-year-old woman he met in a parking lot while on duty, and of forcing her to touch him after they went to a nearby beach.

Balcazar was also accused of using department computers to run record checks on eight women, including the two who made the allegations against him.