WPBN: Earlier this month, a deputy sheriff with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was arrested for attempting to have sexual relations with a minor. According to the Los Angeles Times, the deputy sheriff has now taken his own life.
After his arrest on December 11 at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where he worked at the time he was ensnared by undercover investigators, Anthony Russo, who is 52 years old, had been released on bail with a $500,000 bond.
Russo was approached by an investigator from the RCSD who was acting as a 15-year-old after getting a tip on December 10. The investigator “shared explicit material and communicated his intent to meet with the supposed minor to engage in sexual acts,” according to the statement released by the sheriff’s department at the time of his arrest.
A criminal charge of knowingly disseminating harmful material was subsequently brought against the 52-year-old individual by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
The individual was taken into custody by the Special Investigations Bureau of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD), later detained on two felony counts.
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Additionally, he withdrew from his position as a deputy in the prisons division of the sheriff’s department.
An official from the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office verified to The Times that Russo was located dead inside his home in Lake Arrowbear Lake on December 20. However, they did not disclose any information regarding the nature of the suicide or specify who discovered him.
“to the family and friends affected by this tragic loss,” the RCSD authorities said in a statement to The Times, despite the fact that they did not have any additional information on his death because the probe is outside of their jurisdiction.
The date of January 24 was the day that Russo was supposed to show up in court at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Those who are going through a mental health crisis can get assistance by contacting or texting the national suicide and crisis lifeline at the number 988 anytime they need it. At 988lifeline.org, there is also a chat room available online.
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