L.A. County sheriff’s deputy arrested for second time on suspicion of home abuse

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was positioned on go away in January 2023 was launched from jail early Tuesday on $50,000 bond after he was arrested Monday on suspicion of felony home violence, in keeping with the sheriff’s division.

The arrest of Jim Devoe, 30, got here two years after he was arrested and charged with bodily abusing his 5-year-old son.

Little info is publicly out there concerning the circumstances of the newest incident past the truth that Devoe was arrested in Lancaster at 4:10 p.m. Monday. However a spokesperson for the sheriff’s division stated he had been arrested on suspicion of corporal harm to a partner or cohabitant.

The division spokesperson stated in an emailed assertion final week that it had launched felony and inner administrative investigations into Devoe, who labored as a bailiff on the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster.

“The Sheriff’s Division holds its staff to the best requirements of integrity and professionalism,” the assertion stated. “We’re dedicated to making sure accountability for actions each on and off obligation, as public belief is earned by means of transparency, duty, and adherence to the regulation.”

Sharon Paris Babakhan, a lawyer for Devoe, stated in an e-mail that she was unable to touch upon his newest arrest. However, she stated, “it will be important for the general public to acknowledge that Jim has endured vital private {and professional} losses because of the pending matter … The previous two years have been extraordinarily tough for him.”

Devoe pleaded not responsible to a felony depend of kid abuse in June 2023, a month after his arrest on suspicion of hitting his 5-year-old son and the issuance of a protecting order requiring him to keep away from any contact with the kid.

The daddy of two had informed the boy’s mom by way of textual content that the kid harm himself whereas using his bike, the L.A. County district legal professional’s workplace stated in a Could 2023 assertion.

When she picked him up from Devoe’s dwelling, there was severe bruising and swelling on their son’s face, in keeping with a doc reviewed by The Occasions on the time. The 5-year-old and his brother each informed sheriff’s division investigators in a hospital interview that Devoe had punched the boy, the doc stated.

Devoe was “accused of slapping and punching his son within the face, inflicting seen accidents, after which mendacity to the boy’s mom about the reason for the accidents, together with facial swelling and bruising, an eye fixed hemorrhage” and pink marks, the Could 2023 district legal professional’s workplace assertion stated.

Babakhan stated by way of e-mail that she had “negotiated a good decision with the District Lawyer” relating to the 2023 case.

“We anticipate closing the matter on our subsequent courtroom date, July 1, 2025,” she stated. “Whereas the phrases haven’t but been finalized, we anticipate each felony fees to be dismissed, with a plea to a single misdemeanor depend.”

The sheriff’s division relieved Devoe of obligation three months earlier than his 2023 arrest, in keeping with paperwork and two regulation enforcement sources interviewed by The Occasions on the time, in reference to a number of allegations of misconduct, together with that he had allegedly possessed unlawful steroids. The division assertion issued final week stated he had been relieved “of obligation pending the result of an inner administrative investigation.”

Anthony Salerno, an legal professional who represented Devoe earlier than Babakhan took over his case, denied the steroids declare in Could 2023, telling The Occasions that his consumer had handed drug exams and was relieved of obligation after his driver’s license was suspended for “rushing at a particularly excessive price.”