Deputy Turns Self in for Sex with Inmate

Sex Activity leads to Correctional Deputy’s Downfall

BANNING — A 32-year-old Correctional Deputy on Friday turned himself in to investigators and was later booked for one count of engaging in sex activity with an inmate, three counts of attempted sex activity with an inmate, and four counts of extortion under color of authority.

On Aug. 31, Riverside County Sheriff’s Investigators were notified of a possible crime(s) being committed by a Sheriff’s Office employee formerly assigned to the Riverside Alternative Sentencing Program (RASP) located at the Coordinated Custody Management Unit in Banning.

Investigators learned a correctional deputy was extorting female inmates who were assigned to the home confinement unit. Inmates assigned to this program are required to wear ankle monitors to complete their court-ordered sentencing out of jail custody confined to their homes.

On Sept. 15, Christian Heidecker was booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center, according to Sgt. Steve Brosche. Heidecker has been placed on administrative leave.

This is an ongoing investigation, and no further details were released. The Sheriff’s Office believes there may be additional victims and asks anyone with additional information on this incident to contact Riverside Sheriff’s Master Investigator R. Deanne at 951 955-2777.

Federal law criminalizes any sexual relationship between officials and inmates because inmates cannot legally give consent.

The U.S. Department of Justice ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report in January 2014 reviewing data collected on sexual victimization in prisons from 2009 to 2011, in which they found that almost half – 48 percent — of substantiated incidents of sexual victimization involved guards and inmates, while the other 52 percent involved only inmates.