For nearly a decade, the case of San Diego Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Ricky Fischer\u2019s sexual predation rocked San Diego County. More than 20 women accused Fischer of a myriad of abuses over a two-year period, from unwanted groping and kissing to forcing them to perform oral sex on him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
His victims ran the gamut \u2013 from women who were pulled over for traffic stops to women who called the sheriff\u2019s department for help. He ultimately pleaded guilty to a half dozen felony and misdemeanor charges related to his sexual crimes, leaving San Diego County taxpayers on the hook for nearly $10 million in settlements from the civil cases brought against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But just two years after the resolution of the final civil case<\/a>, Fischer has a new gig \u2013 chaplain with San Diego-based Christian Law Enforcement Fellowship<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Christian Law Enforcement Fellowship describes itself as a \u201cnon-denominational Christian organization committed to a Biblically oriented outreach to the law enforcement community of San Diego County.\u201d The nonprofit organization provides support and mentorship to police officers throughout the region, and throws widely attended prayer breakfasts and even marriage retreats.\u00a0<\/p>\n The group\u2019s leadership includes multiple high-ranking former law enforcement officials, from retired San Diego Police Department Capt. Jerry Hara, who serves as the organization\u2019s president, to retired lieutenant, Misty Cedrun, who serves as the organization\u2019s vice president. The group\u2019s leadership also includes current chaplains for the San Diego Police Department.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sheriff Kelly Martinez is also prominently featured on one of the organization\u2019s webpages<\/a>. In an email, Lt. David Collins wrote that Martinez was not aware that the organization was using a photo of her on its webpages and had asked it be removed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Collins wrote that Martinez supports the work of the Christian Law Enforcement Fellowship and \u201cappreciates how invaluable a resource they are to our employees and the community.\u201d She could not, however, speak to the organization\u2019s hiring decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n When it came to Fischer, Collins wrote: \u201cRichard Fischer was terminated as a Sheriff\u2019s Office Employee in February 2019. He was convicted of crimes and behavior that is not acceptable for any member of the Sheriff\u2019s Office.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fischer\u2019s biography on the organization\u2019s leadership webpage touts his background as a \u201cformer Sergeant in the Marine Corps with 10 years of honorable service\u201d and a \u201cformer law enforcement officer with 10 years of experience.\u201d The bio seems to only obliquely mention his prolific history of sexual abuse and assault, spinning it as a redemption narrative.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter facing some extremely challenging situations,\u201d the biography reads, \u201cGod called Ricky into ministry where he now serves first responders, their families and others in need with compassion, hope and the truth of the Gospel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Fischer declined a request for comment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But Hara, the fellowship\u2019s president, said Fischer is no stranger to the organization. During his sentencing and through his brief incarceration, chaplains from the fellowship counseled him. In the years since, Fischer stayed connected with the fellowship and, in Hara\u2019s telling, has gone through a religious redemption. He\u2019s now attending seminary school.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDid he do something wrong? Absolutely, yes. But we are all sinners. We all deserve god\u2019s forgiveness,\u201d Hara said. \u201cWho better to minister to cops who are in trouble than a cop who has been in trouble who has now been forgiven by God?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to bringing him on as a chaplain, Hara said he and other leaders within the fellowship \u201cvetted him\u201d and that it was clear to them he was a changed man. As a former detective sergeant, he added, you can \u201csmell if something is awry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe if God said \u2018Hey, your sin is forgiven,\u2019 who am I to contradict God?\u201d Hara said. \u201cHe has integrity and high morals and he\u2019s ministering to officers in crisis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The trust they\u2019ve placed in him isn\u2019t without qualifications. Hara said the fellowship doesn\u2019t allow Fischer to minister to female officers. Fischer is also paid via donations that come from those to whom he counsels.\u00a0<\/p>\n But not everyone\u2019s prepared to take Fischer\u2019s redemption arc at face value.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Dave Myers worked in the Sheriff\u2019s Office for more than three decades, later running against Martinez for Sheriff. He said organizations like the fellowship are vital to provide support to officers, who often deal with incredibly stressful and traumatic situations every single day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To Myers, though, the fellowship\u2019s decision to hire Fischer was indefensible. Fischer had used the authority of law enforcement to \u201cprey on the most powerless in our community,\u201d Myers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt does an injustice to not only faith leaders, but an injustice to his victims and to all the good, honest law enforcement personnel out there who are not sexually molesting people who are calling them for help,\u201d Myers said. \u201cFor the Christian (Law Enforcement) Fellowship to allow something like a predator in their midst, any law enforcement organization must distance itself from that organization now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fischer\u2019s crimes drove a deep rift between the community and the Sheriff\u2019s Office. While some of the women were accosted during traffic stops or searches, others were abused after they themselves called the Sheriff\u2019s Office for help, deepening the sense of betrayal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n One victim alleged that Fischer had stalked her after meeting her at a mental health facility where she worked. At one point, she alleged that she was woken up by his shining a flashlight into her window, later demanding she let him in. After being let in, the woman alleged Fischer forced her to perform oral sex on him<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Another woman who\u2019d called the Sheriff\u2019s Office to report a domestic violence threat claimed that Fischer then hugged her, grabbed her butt and placed her hand on his crotch<\/a>. The woman claimed Fischer asked her not to tell anyone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The accuser later told KPBS<\/a> that she had let him into the house because she was vulnerable and scared. The experience, though, had changed her relationship with law enforcement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe just scared me so bad. I will never let an officer in my house again,\u201d the woman said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Fischer\u2019s crimes also put a spotlight on how the Sheriff\u2019s Office responded to misconduct claims by the public. At least one of Fischer\u2019s victims testified that after she\u2019d been groped by Fischer during a traffic stop, she\u2019d lodged two complaints against him. Officers responded to neither. The silence wasn\u2019t an anomaly. Reporting by KPBS showed that between 2014 and 2018, one in six citizen complaints<\/a> to the Sheriff\u2019s Office went unanswered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of the most graphic and disturbing allegations of sexual abuse were not included in Fischer\u2019s trial. Still, he pleaded guilty to four felony counts of assault and battery under color of authority, two misdemeanor counts of assault by an officer and one misdemeanor count of false imprisonment stemming from allegations from 16 women.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the following years, San Diego County taxpayers paid out nearly $10 million<\/a> to settle the civil cases brought by his many victims. The county also footed the bill for the more than $1 million in attorneys\u2019 fees Fischer racked up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fischer was sentenced to 44 months in prison. He served far less than that, though. He spent just over a year in prison during his two stints, which were punctuated by a release<\/a> after a judge wrongly counted time spent on house arrest as time served. Because his crimes weren\u2019t technically sex crimes, Fischer also wasn\u2019t required to register as a sex offender following his release.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The leniency of his punishment outraged many of his victims.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Upon his release, a woman who went by Jane Doe #3 during the trial told NBC 7<\/a> \u201cHonestly, it makes it to where we don\u2019t matter and law enforcement can do whatever they want and it shows everybody else that it\u2019s OK, and you\u2019re going to get away with it and there\u2019s no real punishment behind it or repercussion for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n