Ex-Riverside County sheriff's deputy pleads guilty to sexually extorting, bribing women
A former Riverside County sheriff's deputy agreed to a five-year prison term as he admitted compelling women he monitored on house arrest to send him sexually explicit material in exchange for preferential treatment.
Christian Phillip Heidecker, 32, pleaded guilty Friday to 13 felony counts: four each of extortion, bribery and dissuading a witness, as well as one count of engaging in a sex act as a detention officer. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week, and a judge signed off on the five-year sentence. But there was no deal with the prosecutor because the plea was entered directly to the court.
John Hall, a spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, said prosecutors will ask the judge to decline the plea and allow the case to proceed to trial, stating "the defendant’s conduct merits a state prison sentence greater than the court’s indicated sentence of five years in state prison."
Prosecutors presented evidence during a hearing last year showing how Heidecker preyed on at least four women who were being electronically monitored at their residences as the criminal cases against them were being resolved. Scores of text messages, taken from both Heidecker's sheriff's department and personal cell phones, show how he promised more lenient house arrest terms in exchange for graphic photographs and videos.
Heidecker turned himself in to his department in September after investigators began questioning him about his communications with the women. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office filed 18 felony counts against him, but several were dismissed after a judge reviewed evidence.
Heidecker's attorney declined Monday to comment on the plea until after the sentencing.
In addition to the criminal charges, several women have filed civil suits against the county, the department and Heidecker, alleging he sexually assaulted them and took advantage of they fear that they'd be jailed if they didn't send him graphic material. Lawyers working for Riverside County offered the women settlement payments, some of around $2,000, in exchange for signing documents attempting to release the county of liability for Heidecker's crimes.
Civil attorneys representing the women allege these contracts were compelled and not legally viable — some women said they were presented the offers directly after being questioned by the detectives investigating the crimes and did not have an opportunity to consult lawyers before signing away their legal rights. The civil cases remain open.
While Heidecker's plea came as a surprise and without public announcement, the evidence against him posed a daunting legal challenge for the deputy to overcome should he have proceeded to trial.
Evidence showed Heidecker, who started working for the department in 2018, repeatedly texted women who were assigned to be monitored by him in a manner that became a pattern of exploitation. He'd send flirtatious texts early on, before establishing that he would provide them more freedom if they indulged his sexual advances. He regularly reminded them that secrecy was of ultimate importance, saying he and the women both had a lot at stake.
Prosecutors attempted to charge him with forced sexual penetration, but no clear evidence was provided that Heidecker had encounters with the women in person.
Through days of testimony at a preliminary hearing, prosecutors described how the women Heidecker extorted felt they had no choice given the deputy's legal authority over them while in the Riverside Alternative Sentencing Program at the Coordinated Custody Management Unit in Banning. Some expressed that they feared what he would do if they declined. Some said they sent the material so they could leave their homes to spend time with family. All said they, in one way or another, feared Heidecker would send them back to jail if they didn't comply.
Heidecker's conviction comes as Sheriff Chad Bianco's department continues to struggle with several scandals and an oversight investigation that could have a significant impact on the operations and organization the largest law enforcement agency in the county.
Another deputy is charged with transporting more than a half million fentanyl pills in his trunk. A man has sued the department claiming deputies illegally raided his cannabis farm on sovereign tribal land near Mecca, causing millions in damage. And federal civil suits have mounted as more incarcerated people have died in jail in recent years than in the previous several decades.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta opened a civil rights investigation last year citing in part, a concerning surge in the department's number of in-custody deaths. That investigation is ongoing.
Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Ex-Riverside County sheriff's deputy pleads guilty in extortion scheme
