A former California sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty in a case involving sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy.
Shauna Bishop, a former Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office deputy, was also ordered to serve five years of formal probation. Reports said she would be required to register as a sex offender.
Court records show the case was filed in Sacramento County Superior Court in June 2019. Bishop initially faced five criminal counts, including charges related to unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. She pleaded guilty in July 2020 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, while the remaining counts were later dismissed. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail in September 2020.
The Folsom Police Department began investigating Bishop after receiving allegations that she had engaged in sexual activity with the teenager. Authorities said the case was not connected to her law-enforcement duties.
“Although Bishop is a deputy sheriff, she did not meet the victim through her job nor did the alleged acts occur while on duty,” the Folsom Police Department said at the time of her arrest in June 2019, KCRA-TV reported.
Officials said Bishop knew the boy through a previous personal relationship. Court documents identified the teenager as the son of another Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy whom Bishop had previously dated.
A Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System report said Bishop had helped her former boyfriend care for his two children while they were in a relationship. After the relationship ended, she remained close to the children and their mother, according to the report. The alleged encounter occurred while the younger child was 16.
According to reports citing court documents, Bishop told investigators that she did not have any memory about what occurred because she had taken Ambien, a prescription sleep medication.
The teenager reportedly told investigators that Bishop blamed their sexual activity on adult movies she had watched. Investigators later alleged that searches found on her phone corresponded with sexual acts described by the boy.
Bishop was placed on administrative leave after the allegations emerged. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed at the time that she had worked for the department for approximately five years. Her employment with the department ended in August 2019.
A retirement-system review later concluded that Bishop’s conviction was not connected to the performance of her official duties. The review found no evidence that she met the teenager through her work or that the offence occurred while she was carrying out her responsibilities as a deputy.
The review recommended that the county retirement board should not seek the forfeiture of Bishop’s retirement benefits because the felony conviction was unrelated to her public employment.