Richard Fischer
Richard Fischer
Career
Richard Fischer has worked as a Sherrif's Deputy with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department for six years. He was placed on paid administrative leave in October, 2017 when he was first accused of sexual abuse. [1]
After the criminal charges related to the sexual abuse were filed on February 22, 2018, Richard Fischer was placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the criminal case, Sandiego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.
Sexual Abuse Allegations
At the arraignment, District Attorney Summer Stephan said there are 12 victims, who ranged in age from late 20s to late 60s. Stephan said the alleged crimes occurred while Richard Fischer was on duty, for over two and a half years between May 2015 and October 2017. The judge granted restraining orders to the 12 women. [0]
“In three of these cases for service, Richard Fischer returned to the victims’ homes late at night, after the call had been cleared and closed out, without invitation and without lawful, legitimate purpose,” Deputy District Attorney for San Diego County, Annette Irving said in court.
Prosecutors said six of the victims had called the sheriff's department after they were victims of a crime. The other six of the victims were in police custody and handcuffed when the alleged assaults occurred. [1]
In three incidents, Stephan said the deputy returned to the victim's home after the initial call when no other deputies were present.
“These are simply allegations,” Fischer's defense attorney Richard Pinckard told Judge David Danielson during the arraignment on Thursday.
"Mr. Fischer has a very strong desire to go through this process to clear his name.”
In all, 14 complaints were filed.
Women say Richard Fischer was in uniform and on duty when he inappropriately touched them in their homes or while they were in custody.
On Thursday, Kathy Pillman was in the courtroom in Vista, saying it was scary and anxiety-provoking to be in the same room as Fischer.
"He sexually molested me when I was under his custody,” said Pillman, who claims the incident happened when she was arrested in 2014.
“He groped me and kept me in his custody for quite a while.”
Several times the unwanted touching and questioning occurred minutes or even hours after other deputies had left the scene, the women claim.
“Many victims waited to report until they saw that other victims had come forward.
This is not unusual with sexually based offenses, but these victims also had the added burden of the offender being in uniform and supposed to be serving and protecting them,” Stephan said.
The former deputy was allowed to remain free on $100,000 bail.
Prosecutors asked for a $180,000 bond; Pinckard sought a reduced bail amount, saying his client had no income but a family and strong ties to the community.
“There is no violence or injuries that are alleged in this complaint that creates an urgency in terms of public safety,” Pinckard said.
Authorities have asked any additional victims to call the San Francisco District Attorney's Office directly at (619) 531-4040. [1]
The DA added that some of the women were under arrest while others had called 9-1-1 to get help with a domestic violence situation or a residential burglary when they encountered Fischer’s advances, Stephan said. [1]
“When any deputy conducts themselves in an inappropriate manner it not only impacts every deputy in the sheriff’s department but every peace officer in this county and across the country.
That’s why we take them so seriously because we depend on that trust between the public that we serve and law enforcement,” Gore said.
He went on to say, "I would ask that the public judge the law enforcement agencies, the sheriff’s department or whatever other agency is involved, by how we handle that misconduct and I think in this case when it came to our attention we put all the appropriate resources to bear on this investigation."