Former Assistant Sheriff Won’t Face Criminal Charges

A former assistant sheriff accused of sexual assault will not face criminal charges, the Orange County district attorney’s office said Wednesday.

After an “exhaustive” nine-month investigation of former assistant sheriff Dennis LaDucer, “there is insufficient evidence to file charges,” said Chuck Middleton, head of the county’s sexual assault unit.

“There was inconsistent information given by the people interviewed,” Middleton said. “The end result is that we feel we could not prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Paul Meyer, an attorney representing LaDucer, said his client was pleased. “We are, of course, gratified by the decision,” he said. “We recognize that the district attorney did a thorough investigation, and we concur with the results.”

LaDucer, 52, a 31-year veteran of the department and a former aide to Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, was fired in August after four female employees of the department accused him in a lawsuit of sexual harassment. Among their allegations were that he had made inappropriate comments and groped them.

One of the women, identified as “Jane Doe” in court documents, stated that LaDucer had tried to rape her and forced her to perform oral sex at his home in 1995--allegations that led to a criminal investigation that included interviews with 150 current or former Sheriff’s Department employees.

LaDucer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has filed countersuits accusing the women of slander.

A sheriff’s spokesman could not be reached for comment Wednesday. According to a written statement released by the department, the unidentified woman in late January “divulged information that she had previously not disclosed,” leading to further investigation. Ultimately, the charges were dropped.

Patrick Thistle, a lawyer representing the four women who sued LaDucer, said that the decision not to press criminal charges could expedite the civil case.

“The district attorney has his criteria,” Thistle said, “and we have ours. I have what I consider a rock-solid case to present to the jury at the civil trial. If the D.A. had decided to prosecute, it may have stalled our civil trial while the criminal case was pending. I am pleased that we can now go ahead.”

Thistle said he expects the case to come to trial late this year or early in 1999.