San Joaquin jailer facing inmate rape charge accused numerous times in past, sheriff says
The San Joaquin County correctional officer arraigned Tuesday on charges of raping a woman in sheriff’s custody had been accused numerous times in the past of sexually abusing female inmates at the county’s jail before an August sting led to his arrest this week.
“We knew there had been numerous accusations made before my administration, but each time there was no ability to make the accusation hold up,” San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said Tuesday. Withrow took office in January 2019.
Zachary Simmons, the 34-year-old correctional officer facing six charges against women in custody including felony rape and illegal sex acts, was moved to Stanislaus County Jail on Monday. Simmons’ scheduled Wednesday arraignment in Stockton was moved to Tuesday.
San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Ronald Northup increased Simmons’ bail to $1.3 million from the $1.2 million set Monday. Simmons will return to court for further arraignment Oct. 30.
Simmons has been a San Joaquin County sheriff’s correctional officer since 2008. Withrow said he was unaware of Simmons having a disciplinary record.
But in the Tuesday afternoon interview, Withrow said Simmons’ previous accusers had either been released from custody and did not want to pursue charges or otherwise declined to cooperate.
Until one did.
Withrow’s office was alerted to “concerning conduct involving one of our own Correctional Officers,” in August, the sheriff said in a Monday statement. On Tuesday, Withrow said his office acted quickly on the strength of the latest accusation.
“Once we got the accusation, we immediately initiated an investigation. We interviewed the woman in this case and set up an operation to verify the accusation or clear the officer,” he said.
The inmate alerted investigators during the next incident involving Simmons and the deputy was placed on administrative leave Aug. 26.
Simmons was originally booked Monday into the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp — the same facility Simmons patrolled as a jailer since 2008 — on felony allegations of rape using force or fear; sexual penetration with a foreign object and sexual activity with a confined adult in a detention facility. Simmons also faces a misdemeanor charge of communicating with a prisoner without consent.
The allegations involve three women held at the county jail from March 2015 to September 2020, according to a copy of the six-page complaint presented Tuesday by San Joaquin County prosecutors and obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
Prosecutors allege the county jailer forcibly raped the first woman between March and May 2015; and engaged in sexual acts with two other women in San Joaquin County custody at different times between 2015 and this year.
With the August sting operation, sheriff’s investigators had enough evidence to forward to San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar’s office for review.
“It’s very concerning. We take this very seriously,” Withrow said. “It was infuriating to me. Anyone who would betray the trust of this office and San Joaquin County — we will do anything it takes to root that out.”
No other corrections officers are believed to be involved in the abuses, Withrow said, but Salazar said her office is establishing a hotline for other potential victims to come forward if they believe they have been sexually attacked by correctional officers while in custody.
No formal complaint is needed, Salazar said, adding that people will be connected to recovery and trauma services.
Salazar called the alleged violations a “perversion of trust” in a Monday statement.
“Correctional officers are in a position of trust and they have a duty to ensure the well-being of those in-custody under their care,” Salazar said Monday. “There is no greater perversion of that trust than the sexual assault of an inmate under your care. It is simply unacceptable.”
Simmons remains with the Sheriff’s Office as an internal investigation continues, but Withrow said “discipline will come swiftly.”
“In the past, we have waited for an internal investigation to be completed, but we have changed that,” Withrow said. “San Joaquin County residents and I don’t agree with (officers receiving) paid administrative leave for years at a time. We will come to a decision and act accordingly to what the investigation shows us.”
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