Attorney Allred will stand beside victim in deputy sex scandal
Gloria Allred being interviewed by the media. (Photo by Albert Domasin.)
RIVERSIDE – Attorney Gloria Allred announced on Monday that she will represent a 16-year-old who has accused a former San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy and another man of having sex with her, according to a story published on the Riverside Press-Enterprise website.
Allred, who often represents clients in high profile cases, will appear on behalf of the victim in Tuesday’s arraignment of former deputy Nathan James Gastineau in San Bernardino, the lawyer said in an emailed news release.
She refused comment to the Press-Enterprise during a brief phone interview, according to the website report, in response to queries about the case or her reasons for taking it.
Gastineau, 31, of Redlands, and Jason Henry Aguiano, 27, of Rialto, face multiple counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with the female victim, who is now reportedly 17. Previous reports stated that Gastineau started having inappropriate contact with the victim when she was 15.
The girl was part of the sheriff’s department’s Explorer program, which links law enforcement to teenagers interested in possible careers in that field. Gastineau was the department’s Highland coordinator of the program.
Aguiano became linked with the female victim when another program, dubbed Ghostbusters, brought him into contact with the female.
The men were arrested in April when Gastineau was placed on administrative leave. He has since been separated from the sheriff’s department, though it was not clear whether he was terminated or resigned.
Reports said that it was Gastineau who, after admitting to investigators his involvement with the victim, participated in implicating Anguiano in the crime.
Gastineau faces three counts of lewd acts upon a child, and Anguiano faces two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object.
Allred has represented several people in high profile cases, including Nicandra Diaz Santillon, the former maid of California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman; Amber Frey, the girlfriend of convicted killer Scott Peterson; and Rachel Uchitel, who was Tiger Woods’ mistress, among others.
