Deputy repeatedly sexually abused girls as young as 4, California officials say

A 53-year-old former deputy is going to prison after being accused of sexually abusing four girls, California officials said.

Sean Essex sexually abused four girls between the ages of 4 and 13 when he was a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, according to a June 7 news release by the district attorney’s office.

Before his April 2022 arrest, Essex had been with the department for 22 years, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to the department June 7 but did not immediately receive a response.

The department told KTLA that officials launched an investigation in April 2022 and Essex no longer worked there as of November 2022.

“This individual’s egregious actions do not align with the values upheld by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department or the dedicated law enforcement professionals who serve our communities with pride every day,” the department said in a statement to the outlet. “The Department sets a standard of the utmost ethical, moral, and professional conduct for all its personnel. Department members who engage in any misconduct, particularly criminal behavior targeting vulnerable populations, will be thoroughly investigated, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Essex abused one girl in 2006 and the others between 2013 and 2022, prosecutors said.

“The horrific sexual abuse that Mr. Essex inflicted on these young victims has not only violated his oath as a law enforcement officer to protect and serve the community, but also has left these children with life-long trauma,” District Attorney George Gascón said in the release.

Essex said he took “advantage of a position of trust in the commission of the crime and that one victim was especially vulnerable,” officials said.

Essex pleaded no contest to the continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, officials said.

He will have to pay restitution to the victims and register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

Essex was sentenced to 40 years in prison, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Deputy repeatedly sexually abused girls as young as 4, California officials say."