Sacramento deputy accused of molesting ex-boyfriend’s teen son will be cleared, attorney vows
Sacramento County sheriff’s Deputy Shauna Bishop will be cleared of allegations she sexually molested the 16-year-old son of a fellow deputy, her attorney vowed Wednesday as Bishop’s criminal case continued in a Sacramento courtroom.
“After a thorough investigation, Ms. Bishop will be exonerated,” Bishop’s defense counsel Richard Chan said following the morning hearing in Sacramento Superior Court. “Anybody can make an allegation. It’s my case and it’s not true.”
Bishop, 45, appeared with Chan before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown in her second appearance on the charges: sex with a minor; oral copulation with a minor; and annoying a child, a misdemeanor. Brown had ordered Bishop to have no contact with the alleged victim at her arraignment in June.
The boy is the son of a former boyfriend of Bishop’s, a high-ranking officer in the department, prosecutors said in court records.
Chan asked the judge for a delay until Aug. 28, citing “ongoing discovery issues.” Bishop did not speak and quickly left ahead of Chan after her brief appearance.
Folsom police arrested Bishop on June 13, her birthday. Court documents subsequently obtained by The Bee detail sex acts alleged to have happened at the Folsom home where the boy stays with his mother. The boy’s mother and father are divorced.
In the court papers, prosecutors say the boy’s father – Bishop’s ex-boyfriend – had been suspicious of Bishop for some time and feared that “Shauna was ‘grooming our son.’”
Chan has not yet interviewed the alleged victim, he said outside Brown’s courtroom, but said he anticipates the minor will take the stand if the case proceeds to trial. Chan suggested the boy would undergo extensive questioning.
“I expect he will have to testify and be cross-examined thoroughly,” Chan said. “The DA will have to make him testify. They’re the ones who brought the case. The DA will have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Bishop was sworn in as a sheriff’s deputy five years ago and is assigned to the office’s North Patrol. She is on paid administrative leave as the criminal case against her continues.
This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Sacramento deputy accused of molesting ex-boyfriend’s teen son will be cleared, attorney vows."
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