Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department misconduct case closed with retirement. What happened?
Former Patterson Police Services Chief Marcelino Nuno confirmed last week that he retired instead of appealing a termination resulting from investigations into alleged sexual misconduct.
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department investigations, first reported by The Patterson Irrigator, allege Nuno stuck his hand inside a female recruit’s pants and asked what underwear she wore while he put fake weapons in her clothes for a police academy training.
In a criminal report, a detective alleged Nuno committed sexual battery against two female recruits, but the District Attorney’s Office determined no crime occurred during the April 22, 2020, training, according to a letter the office sent the department.
The separate administrative investigation report led a disciplinary review board to recommend Nuno be terminated for violating department policy, however. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Luke Schwartz said in an email that Nuno retired on Aug. 10, closing the misconduct case and waiving his rights to appeal the termination.
“I had full intentions on fighting this through the appeals process,” Nuno said in a text Wednesday. “The process normally takes one to two months. Unfortunately due to COVID, the process was going to take six months to a year. Since we are a single-income family, I would not have been able to wait that long.”
The department completed the administrative investigation in June and the criminal one in May. Nuno, 48, said his retirement payments from 27 years in law enforcement allow him to support his family and he does not plan to seek employment elsewhere. Nuno received his regular pay as a Sheriff’s Department lieutenant while on administrative leave, Schwartz said, but would not be paid if served with termination papers.
His administrative leave began April 24, per the administrative report, and Schwartz said Nuno started the process to appeal his termination while on leave before retiring.
Nuno made $285,000 in pay and benefits in 2019, according to the Transparent California database. Based on that, the department may have paid Nuno up to $82,000 during his leave.
Nuno declined to comment on the heavily redacted investigation reports, which The Bee obtained through a public records act request for records under Senate Bill 1421. Part of the bill requires the release of records on sustained findings that a peace officer sexually assaulted a member of the public or was dishonest.
Stanislaus Sheriff, District Attorney documents detail findings
The administrative and criminal investigations looked into Nuno’s conduct as a defensive tactics instructor for a basic police academy at the Stanislaus Sheriff Regional Training Center in Modesto. Both investigations began April 23 after a female recruit with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department alleged Nuno touched her inappropriately while preparing for a training on searching techniques. The recruit, whose name was redacted, said Nuno called her into an empty weight room and had props to hide on her person for a search scenario.
According to interviews detailed in the reports, the recruit alleged Nuno lifted the bottom of her sports bra to put a knife inside it and touched her breast over her clothes as he felt another training prop he put under her bra strap. She also alleged he stuck his hand inside her pants and asked what kind of underwear she wore while placing a pocket knife between her zipper and underwear line.
“(Redacted) felt the actions by Nuno in placing the items was inappropriate and made her feel uncomfortable,” a detective wrote in the crime report. “(Redacted) did not know how to say ‘no’ to Nuno because Nuno was of such a high rank and she was beneath his rank. She did not want to get in trouble and did not want to get punished.”
Per the administrative report, Nuno told investigators his intent was not sexual and instead focused on the training. Asking what underwear she was wearing was not inappropriate, Nuno told investigators, because weapons can fall from certain styles of underwear.
The crime determination letter by the District Attorney’s Office also details how a second female recruit alleged Nuno touched her inappropriately. She told investigators Nuno grabbed her “crotch and butt” to move her into the correct position during a ground maneuver training.
After reviewing the academy surveillance video footage and the criminal investigation report, District Attorney Birgit Fladager and Assistant District Attorney David Harris said there was no evidence of Nuno committing sexual battery. Determining whether sexual harassment occurred separate from a crime is not the office’s decision, they noted.
“Based on the law, no crime was committed here because there is no evidence of any sexual intent on Nuno’s part,” said the letter signed by Fladager and Harris. “The video demonstrated that he taught male and female recruits approximately the same. Apparently, the class had some reluctance to engage in cross gender drills, which might be uncomfortable but is a fact of life in police work.”
City of Patterson comments on investigations
Patterson has a contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services, and Nuno began serving as chief of Patterson Police Services in December 2018. The Sheriff’s Department first hired Nuno as a deputy in 1998 when it absorbed the Waterford Police Department. Nuno started working for the Waterford Police Department as a reserve officer in 1993.
The city was not involved in Nuno’s investigation because he is a Sheriff’s Department employee, said Patterson City Manager Ken Irwin.
“The City has had a long and positive working relationship with the Sheriff’s Department and trusts that their investigation and discipline process was thorough and fair,” Irwin said in an emailed statement.
Nuno had worked as an academy instructor since 2000, according to the administrative investigation. Investigators reported Nuno told them he placed props on both male and female recruits for concealed weapons search training.
At least five other law enforcement personnel told investigators they do not hide training props on recruits themselves. The Stanislaus County Counsel’s Office redacted names and more than 10 pages of each report, so an exact count is unclear.
“The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office takes a strong stand against this type of behavior,” Schwartz said in an email. “We took immediate steps to protect the involved parties and investigate these allegations thoroughly.”
This isn’t the first time Nuno has faced misconduct allegations. In 2012, the parents of a bicyclist who was killed in a 2010 hit-and-run near Turlock filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Nuno, the driver and the driver’s parents. The lawsuit accused Nuno of obstructing the investigation because of his alleged relationship with the driver.
Nuno’s attorney for the case, Dan Farrar, said in an email that Nuno was dismissed from the case before the judgment was entered in 2015. The judge ruled in favor of the defendant but gave no explanation in the written ruling.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
