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Deputy used work computer to look up information on teen he groped, prosecutors say

SAN DIEGO – Prosecutors have filed new charges against a 32-year-old San Diego deputy accused of groping a teen girl – they say he used a sheriff’s depart...
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SAN DIEGO – Prosecutors have filed new charges against a 32-year-old San Diego deputy accused of groping a teen girl - they say he used a sheriff’s department computer to access information on the case and send photos of the victim to himself.

32-year-old Deputy Timothy Wilson was arrested on May 18th on suspicion of committing a lewd act with a minor, according to KSWB. Prosecutors say Wilson walked into a Panda Express on Main Street in Vista and grabbed the 14-year-old girl’s buttocks while she was waiting in line to order food.

At his arraignment Tuesday, Wilson was charged with one felony count of committing a lewd act with a 14-year-old and one felony count of accessing a sheriff’s computer to take data. Prosecutors said that Wilson downloaded photos of the 14-year-old girl and other information about the case against him and sent the data to a personal email address.

“After the March 21 incident, the defendant personally used his unique username, his user ID, his login to the Sheriff’s database to then access information regarding the ongoing case investigation by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. He did so on repeated occasions, number 44 times between March 22, 2018, and May 9 of 2018," said Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens.  "The Sheriff’s Department detained him and placed him under arrest and in so doing seized his department-issued notepad. On the first page of that department-issued notepad, the defendant had handwritten the sheriff’s case number for this case, the charge of 288 C. lewd act with 14-year-old minor, as well as the home address of the victim herself.”

Wilson pleaded not guilty to both charges. If convicted on both charges, he could be sentenced to three years and eight months in prison and forced to register for life as a sex offender.

Wilson remains in jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.

"So relieved that the judge kept the bail where it is so that my daughter can sleep peacefully tonight," the victim's mother Jenna Tanis said to KSWB. “It’s always been somewhat brought a sense of comfort to us to know that the sheriffs are right there when we need them, and now we have a sense of betrayal."

She says each day of the investigation she and her family are learning new details about the case.

"He’s a law enforcement officer with an album of pictures of my daughter’s backside. I don’t know how you react to that. I’m just very relieved he won't be on the streets tonight," said Tanis.

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