There’s something missing from the story about the alleged rape of a Sandoval County Sheriff’s deputy by her comrades — her brothers. The missing piece of the puzzle is Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. Almost every day, you’ll find White fuming about sexual predators. He clearly communicates his despise for them. Unless they wear a uniform or serve another county?

I know nothing about the merits of this case, though I can’t imagine any police officer taking the risk of falsely claiming rape. A man’s word is his bond; a women needs a rape-kit. I hope the system works in this case and the truth comes out.

Still, White could call one of his daily press conferences and say, regardless of the case, rape is a vile crime that cannot be tolerated by humanity. He could use his public position to state the obvious: rape will not be ignored and rape victims have nothing to fear in coming forward. White may say, “hey, not my county,” but I think he has assisted neighboring counties in monitoring sexual predators. (Plus, APD is trying to entice personnel from all over NM, including Sandoval’s finest.) By his conspicuous silence, White implies it’s not his concern or this is a lesser crime. He’s wrong.

ABQjournal: Deputy: Fellow Officers Raped Me, By Rozanna M. Martinez, Journal Staff Writer

State Police are investigating claims by a female Sandoval County sheriff’s deputy that she was raped by other deputies at a party in December.

Sandoval County Sheriff John Paul Trujillo told the Journal on Friday he contacted State Police as soon has he received information about the alleged assault.

The incident involved off-duty sheriff’s officers and occurred in December outside the sheriff’s department’s jurisdiction, Trujillo said.

“I had an outside source look into it so they could verify or see if there was a criminal act that took place,” Trujillo said. “At this point we don’t know, it’s in State Police hands.”

Trujillo said he could not comment further. [mjh: except to say the department will not tolerate sexual predators?]

You may recall that Trujillo was accused by BernCo police officers of having sex in a car. (Not necessarily a crime.) What the hell is wrong with the Sandoval County Sheriff’s department? I think the State Police investigation needs to be expanded. mjh

PS: Trujillo says the alleged crime took place “outside the sheriff’s department’s jurisdiction.” Could that be Bernalillo County, making it all the more White’s concern?