Cop Will Do Less Than 2 Years for On-Duty Sex Assault of 16 Women, Won’t Register as Sex Offender

Vista, CA — At least 16 women said San Diego deputy Richard Fischer used his badge and position as a police officer to commit sex crimes against them, but in a plea deal Fischer and his lawyers made with prosecutors, not only will the alleged rapist not spend the rest of his life in prison, he won’t even have to register as a sex offender.

One woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said Fisher responded to a welfare check call to her residence. Following the call, the officer started to randomly show up at her home on numerous occasions, ask for a hug or a kiss, and eventually ended up pushing her onto her bed and sexually assaulting her.

According to Fox 5 San Diego, the officer allegedly would meet women on the job, prey on them, stalk them, kidnap at least one, and then grope, kiss, or force the women to perform sex acts on him.

The charges stemmed from attacks between 2015 and 2017 on 16 women, some of whom he arrested and others he met while responding to 911 calls the victims made.

However, on Tuesday, instead of the 25 years he was originally facing, the now former officer was sentenced to 44 months behind bars but will be eligible for release just after 22 months.

In September, Fischer pleaded guilty to four felony counts of assault under color of authority, two misdemeanor counts of assault under color of authority and one misdemeanor count of false imprisonment. None of the charges mentioned sexual assault.

According to his victims, what he did to them was far worse than the small felonies and misdemeanors he pleaded guilty to.

Prior to August of 2018 Fischer was facing 20 felony charges and misdemeanors but three more women came forward telling their stories. As a result, prosecutors added five new charges against the defendant which included forcible oral copulation. While those allegations may or may not be true, the charges didn’t stick and Fischer eventually pleaded guilty to the much lesser crimes which didn’t carry stiffer prison sentences.

San Diego County Superior Court Judge Daniel B. Goldstein told the former Marine and disgraced police officer that he “operated with impunity, believing that you would never get caught. And you operated like that because you thought nobody would ever believe (the victims.)…Unfortunately, you’ve disgraced your uniform, you’ve disgraced these deputies who are in my department every day,” Goldstein said, referring to the bailiffs in his courtroom. “You’ve disgraced the Marine Corps. I can’t imagine what you were thinking.”

As TFTP has reported on numerous occasions, cops can and do ask women for sex while on traffic stops. Because of their position of trust, and under the threat of arrest, some women comply. Until recently, it was not even illegal in many states for cops to ask for sexual favors — including from women they just arrested. But as a result of the #metoo movement, laws as well as attitudes are changing. Unfortunately, cops are still getting slaps on the wrist when they do get caught breaking the law.

How a cop who admits to sexually assaulting multiple woman, while on duty and manages to get such a measly sentence is anyone’s guess—especially considering the case of Daniel Holtzclaw who was found guilty of similar crimes but was sentenced to more than two centuries behind bars. While Holtzclaw is the exception, Fischer appears to be the rule.

In August, it was announced that the two NYPD officers who admitted to kidnapping a teen and were found to have raped her will not be going to jail and will not be registering as sex offenders.

Also as TFTP reported last year, Rafael Martinez Jr., a now-former Camden County cop was found guilty of having sexual relations with and impregnating a child. This was confirmed with DNA evidence and the officer himself admitted it. However, he will not spend a single day in jail.

Before that, former deputy Robert Retford, with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department was arrested in Noveber of 2016 on charges of sexual assault. His alleged victim was apparently seeking help from the deputy when she said he beat her, raped her and defecated on her, and made her drink his urine. In May of 2017, Retford pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman and would not spend a single day in jail.