California county offered inmates ‘hush money’ to cover up sex abuse allegations, lawsuits allege

Seven women who allege they were sexually abused or exploited by a former Riverside County correctional deputy are suing the county and Sheriff’s Department, claiming they coordinated a scheme to prevent the women from coming forward and offered them “hush money.”

On Tuesday, March 26, Long Beach attorney Denisse O. Gastélum and Los Angeles attorney Christian Contreras filed seven separate lawsuits on behalf of the alleged victims in U.S. District Court in Riverside. Named in the suits is former correctional Deputy Christian Heidecker, who was sentenced earlier this month to five years in prison.

The women allege that, for years, the 32-year-old Menifee resident used his position of authority to sexually abuse and torment several females on house arrest.

But when Heidecker was caught, the suits allege, the Sheriff’s Department “concocted a plan to cover up the sexual abuse and to prevent the public from hearing the victims’ accounts” of what happened to them.

Heidecker, according to the suits, confessed to sexual abuse on Sept. 1, 2023, then agreed to turn himself in on Sept. 15. This, the lawsuits allege, gave the county and Sheriff’s Department 15 days to try to silence the victims.

The alleged plan, according to the lawsuits, was orchestrated and executed by sheriff’s Professional Standards Bureau correctional Sgt. Jessica Yelenich and Nicole R. Roggeveen, a contracted attorney for the county. Both Yelenich and Roggeveen also are named as defendants in the lawsuits.

$5,000 paid to victim

“So what do they do during these 15 days? Two women, no less, attorney Roggeveen and Sgt. Yelenich, created a list of Heidecker’s victims — woman after woman after woman, victim after victim after victim — and, one by one, they made sure they offered them hush money to keep them silent,” Gastelum said during a news conference Thursday outside U.S. District Court in Riverside.

One of Heideker’s victims, a lawsuit plaintiff present during Thursday’s news conference, was provided a 10-page settlement release, and when she asked if she could show it to her mother, she was told no, Gastelum said. So the plaintiff, identified only as “KP,” signed the agreement and was given a $5,000 check. As a result, she waived her right to sue the county.

“I want to make sure that if there’s any other victims out there who the county of Riverside or the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department attempted to silence you, do not let them silence you,” Gastelum said Thursday. “Your voice matters.”

Riverside County spokesperson Brooke Federico said in an email Thursday that it is not uncommon to seek settlement prior to litigation to avoid the time and expense for both sides associated with lawsuits.

“Pre-litigation settlements do not contain non-disclosure language. To characterize any pre-litigation settlements as an effort to buy silence is a clear mischaracterization,” Federico said. “Upon receipt of these lawsuits, the County will review them thoroughly to determine next steps.”

Charged with 13 felonies

In February, Heidecker pleaded guilty to 13 felony charges — four counts of extortion, four counts of dissuading a witness, four counts of being a peace officer soliciting a bribe and one count of being a detention officer engaging in a sex act with a consenting adult — after prosecutors said he threatened four women under house arrest with jail time unless they performed sex acts and sent him videos.

Heidecker resigned after his arrest on Sept. 15.

In separate lawsuits, Gastelum also is representing two of the four women the former deputy was convicted of victimizing. The women, who were were wearing ankle monitors while out of jail, allege they were promised they could spend more time away from home or with their families in exchange for sex.

Heidecker was assigned to the Riverside Alternative Sentencing Program at the Coordinated Custody Management Unit in Banning. Case managers have the authority to order participants to jail if they do not comply with the terms of their house arrest.

Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez declined to comment on the allegations Thursday, citing the ongoing litigation.

‘Fighting for justice’

During Thursday’s news conference, Contreras said the attorneys were “calling out” the county and Sheriff’s Department for their failure to properly address abuses within their criminal justice system.

“We’re here fighting for justice for these victims. We’re here filing these civil rights lawsuits because we know the county is not going to do anything about this,” he said. “They’re going to sweep this under the rug and they’re not going to make any reforms or changes within this department, and it will happen again.”

Contreras and Gastelum also revealed Thursday that Heidecker allegedly produced a video with a sexually offensive title depicting correctional deputies in a Riverside County jail.

“He was using his title and his uniform to make this video, and the most troubling aspect of this video is it shows they were doing it within the jails, in uniform, well before deputy Hediecker took advantage of these woman,” Contreras said.

One of Heidecker’s alleged victims, also a plaintiff identified only as “YV,” said Thursday their intention was to “hold everyone accountable,” not just Heidecker.

“Especially Nicole Roggeveen and Sgt. Yelenich, who came to our homes and did nothing less than what Christian Heidecker did to us,” she said. “They made us feel afraid … that if we did not cooperate with signing their documents and whatever else we were asked to do, that we would be punished and taken back to jail. We are here today to ask for the justice that we deserve.”