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Sheriff Arpaio Showdown: Resignation Demands Grow Amid Child Sex Crimes Debacle

By Jeff Bigger, Posted: 12/ 7/11 04:21 PM ET | Source: HuffingtonPost.com

A groundswell of demands for Sheriff Joe Arpaio's resignation continued to spread across local, county and state levels in Arizona today, as questions over his Maricopa County department's failed leadership and bungling of hundreds of reported sex crimes, including child rape and molestation, remained unanswered.

"Victims who get the courage to report sexual abuse to authorities have every right to expect law enforcement to take their report seriously and to investigate it," said state Rep. Katie Hobbs, a social worker and expert on domestic abuse who represents a district in Maricopa County. "These cases have been referred to as 'botched investigations', but really, this situation is a gross miscarriage of justice. Irreparable damage has been done to these victims and their families. Ultimately Sheriff Arpaio didn't get the job done, and it's time for him to recognize it."

After offering a questionable apology on Monday, "if there were any victims," as Arpaio quipped, the increasingly erratic and out-of-touch 79-year-old sheriff found time to ride in his beloved U.S. Army tank in the Phoenix Light Parade on Tuesday, and then tweeted about a supermarket tabloid's feature on his posse to verify President Obama's birth certificate:

Will bungled sex abuse investigations matter to the Joe Arpaio faithful?

Laurie Roberts' Columns & Blog | Source: AZCentral.com

A 15-year-old girl bursts into an El Mirage store and reports that she’s just been raped by two men in a nearby ditch. A 9 year old tells a school counselor that her grandmother’s boyfriend comes into her room at night and molests her as she tries to sleep.

A 13 year old opens the door to a man whose car had supposedly broken down. He knocks the girl out and sexually assaults her.

In each case, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was called to investigate. In every one, the “investigation” ended with that call.

They are among 432 sex crimes reported to the sheriff’s office between 2005 and 2007. Reported and …

Nothing.

No investigation, no arrests, no justice.

More calling on Joe Arpaio to step down over botched sex-crimes cases

by JJ Hensley - Dec. 7, 2011 01:50 PM | Source: The Arizona Republic

Two more elected officials joined the chorus calling for the resignation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio over the botching of sex-crimes cases by his department in 2005.

State Reps. Ruben Gallego and Katie Hobbs, both Phoenix Democrats, held a press conference at the Capitol Wednesday morning to ask that Arpaio step down, two days after U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz, also call for the sheriff to resign.

"We pay for public safety and protection under the law and we expect to get it," Hobbs said. "Justice in Maricopa County has taken a giant step backward thanks to Sheriff Joe Arpaio."

Hobbs said the calls for resignation were not a partisan issue and said voters would have a chance to express themselves in the November election if Arpaio does not step down.

Arpaio said he has no intention of resigning.

The calls for Arpaio's resignation have come in recent days after national media outlets began reporting this week about hundreds of sex-crimes cases the Sheriff's Office mishandled between 2005 and 2007.

Grijalva Calls for Immediate Resignation of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio – Office Has Mishandled More Than 400 Sex Crimes

Monday, December 05, 2011 | Source: Grijalva.House.gov

Tucson, Ariz. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today called for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign in the wake of revelations the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office failed adequately to investigate more than 400 sex-crime cases– includingdozens of alleged child molestations cases– over a three-year period ending in 2007.

According to an in-depth investigative story by the Associated Press:

[The cases] were among more than 400 sex-crimes reported to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office during a three-year period ending in 2007 — including dozens of alleged child molestations — that were inadequately investigated and in some instances were not worked at all, according to current and former police officers familiar with the cases. In El Mirage alone, where Arpaio’s office was providing contract police services, officials discovered at least 32 reported child molestations — with victims as young as 2 years old — where the sheriff’s office failed to follow through, even though suspects were known in all but six cases. [. . .]

Arpaio’s office refused several requests over a period of months to answer questions about the investigations and declined a public records request for an internal affairs report, citing potential disciplinary actions. Brian Sands, a top sheriff’s official who is in charge of the potential discipline of any responsible employees, was later made available to talk about the cases. He declined to say why they weren’t investigated. “There are policy violations that have occurred here,” Sands said. “It’s obvious, but I can’t comment on who or what.”

“This nothing-to-see-here attitude is the worst kind of unaccountable arrogance, and Mr. Arpaio needs to step down before any more damage is done to public confidence in our law enforcement and justice system,” Grijalva said. “The picture emerging – no follow-up, no investigation, no prosecution, no justiceand a shield of silence after the fact – is not how we conduct law enforcement in this country. Enforcing laws against violent crime, whatever a victim’s legal status, is mandatory and not something we leave to individual communities as an open question. Selective enforcement undermines respect for our brave legal officers and is rightly not tolerated by the public.

“Mr. Arpaio might love headline-grabbing crackdowns and theatrical media appearances, but when it comes to the everyday work of keeping people safe, he seems to have lost interest some time ago. He should give the affected families a sense that justice is finally being done by taking the honorable route and resigning now.”

The full Associated Press article is available at http://bit.ly/uXKsj6.

Joe Arpaio's Racial Profiling Case: Summary Judgment Hearing Set for December 22

By Stephen Lemons Fri., Dec. 2 2011 at 12:27 PM | Source: PhoenixNewTimes.com

If there were Black Hole of Calcutta for bad sheriffs, is there any doubt that Joe Arpaio would be in it? 

Arpaio, the biggest un-indicted criminal in Arizona, is responsible for so much malfeasance, illegal activity and human misery, that his Teflon Don persona continues to amaze, even as the nearly 80 year-old autocrat is looking at running for re-election in 2012, yet again.

But there are signs that some of his shenanigans are finally being halted. 

Such could be the case with the now four year-old civil rights lawsuit Melendres v. Arpaio, in which clients represented by the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union) and MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) have charged Arpaio, his underlings and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office with a pattern of racial profiling during its Hispanic-hunting sweeps of Latino neighborhoods.

Yesterday, federal Judge G. Murray Snow ordered a hearing with two hours of oral arguments for December 22 in a motion for summary judgment and other pending motions. You can read the order, here. 

He's also asked for a supplemental briefing on various issues and pointed out things he wishes addressed in court. 

Based on these, were I one of Arpaio's lawyers, I would not be looking forward to the hearing.

Joe Arpaio, Arizona Sheriff, Botched Sex-Crime Cases, Critics Say

By JACQUES BILLEAUD   12/ 4/11 02:57 PM ET   Source: HuffngtonPost.com

EL MIRAGE, Ariz. -- The 13-year-old girl opened the door of her home in this small city on the edge of Phoenix to encounter a man who said that his car had broken down and he needed to use the phone. Once inside, the man pummeled the teen from behind, knocking her unconscious and sexually assaulting her.

Seven months before, in an apartment two miles away, another 13-year-old girl was fondled in the middle of the night by her mother's live-in boyfriend. She woke up in her room at least twice a week to find him standing over her, claiming to be looking for her mother's cell phone.

Both cases were among more than 400 sex-crimes reported to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office during a three-year period ending in 2007 – including dozens of alleged child molestations – that were inadequately investigated and in some instances were not worked at all, according to current and former police officers familiar with the cases.