TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The second case within a month involving sexually-related crimes between detention deputies and inmates at Lerdo Jail prompted Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood to vow sweeping changes in jail policies.

The changes were announced Thursday after Detention Deputy Anthony Lavis was charged with one count of sexual penetration with force, three counts of assault by an officer and three counts of intimate touching against a person’s will.

Youngblood said he’s embarrassed and angry and the investigation is ongoing to find out if there are more victims who haven’t come forward yet.

“I’m pissed off,” Youngblood said.

Among the planned changes are stationing two deputies in the infirmary at Lerdo Jail whenever possible, requiring supervisors to walk through the facilities and sign log records more often and transferring commanders to get a fresh set of eyes in different areas, Youngblood said. All the assaults Lavis is accused of happened while he was assigned to the infirmary area of Lerdo.

Also, the long-planned addition of cameras in the downtown jail is close to fruition after a contract was signed this week. Undersheriff Marty Williamson said the decision to install the cameras was not related to Lavis’ arrest and has been in talks for about five years.

The cameras that will be installed in the receiving area of the downtown jail will cost about $1.2 million, Williamson said. He hopes to have them operational by summer, and a decision will then be made whether to place cameras throughout the jail.

Lavis, 55, was arrested about 10 a.m. Thursday and is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 18. Bail in the case is $170,000.

The incidents first came to the attention of deputies Oct. 15 when a female inmate said Lavis touched her while she was in the shower, according to a probable cause declaration investigators filed in Kern County Superior Court. An investigation began and detectives installed audio and video surveillance equipment in the woman’s cell.

The audio equipment captured conversation of a sexual nature between Lavis and the victim, and Lavis touched the victim and assaulted her, the declaration said.

Detectives soon found other women who said Lavis touched them inappropriately, the declaration said.

A second woman said Lavis kissed and touched her while she was an inmate, and a third woman said that while she was in custody and assigned to a work crew Lavis walked up behind her and rubbed against her, the declaration said.

A fourth woman said Lavis wouldn’t allow her to return to her housing unit after she was taken off suicide watch until she disrobed for him, court records said.

Another woman who had been an inmate said she received phone calls and flowers from Lavis after she was released from jail, court records said. She said she never provided contact information to Lavis and was surprised to hear from him. Lavis was able to find her by using a Sheriff’s Office criminal database, the declaration said.

Youngblood said at a news conference that two more inmates told detectives they agreed to expose themselves to Lavis in exchange for food and money.

Youngblood said Sheriff’s Department employees go through an extensive background check, but if someone’s determined to commit a crime, no amount of policy change will stop that person. He said the changes at the jail will at least make it more difficult for someone to commit a crime.

The charges against Lavis come a month after the department arrested Detention Deputy Margarita Young, 48, on charges of having unlawful sex at Lerdo Jail with Death Row inmate Timothy Rodriguez, 41. Young has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in March.

Young’s case marked the first time a deputy was charged with having sex with an inmate since former sheriff’s Cmdr. Donald Fredenburg was accused in 1993 of having sex with a female inmate within the jail. Those encounters were allegedly arranged with the help of Senior Deputy Gary Stephens. Both men were convicted of related charges, but not the sexual charges. Fredenburg was sentenced to four years in prison.

— Californian staff writer Steve E. Swenson contributed to this report.