Ex Sheriff's sergeant gets prison term

LOS ANGELES - A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sergeant convicted of sexually assaulting one woman - a single mother from Downey - and inappropriately searching two others was sentenced to more than nine years in prison last week.Mark Fitzpatrick, 42, was sentenced to nine years, four months in state prison by Judge Sam Ohta. Jurors convicted Fitzpatrick last October of one count each of penetration under threat to arrest or deport; sexual battery by restraint; and sexual penetration by foreign object by force, violence, duress and/or menace. He was also convicted of three counts of false imprisonment by violence. The charges stemmed from three separate incidents in May 2008 during which Fitzpatrick conducted traffic stops. The Downey woman was pulled over in Paramount when Fitzpatrick allegedly accused her of drunk driving before asking, "What are you going to do for me in order for me not to bring you to jail tonight?" Fitzpatrick allegedly made the woman show him her breasts before following her home. The alleged sexual assault took place in the woman's driveway. The woman reached a $245,000 settlement with the Sheriff's Department.

********** Published: June 07, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 08