A former Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy was sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation on Wednesday after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 16-year-old boy and molesting him repeatedly. Shauna Bishop, 45, is also required to register herself as a sex offender and can't keep in touch with the teen boy.
Although the incident took place last year, it took more than a year to complete the investigations and file charges against Bishop, who resigned from her post last year after her arrest. However, authorities said the crime was not involved in any way with her law enforcement duties.
Protector or Predator?
Bishop turned herself in back in June 2019 after the boy's parent filed a report with police in their hometown of Folsom, California. Investigators began looking into Bishop's relationship with the boy in May and police later issued a warrant for her arrest.
Investigations revealed that the teen boy's father was Bishop's ex-boyfriend. The father had confided to his ex-wife that he was concerned Bishop was "grooming" their son, court records say. The boy's mother and Bishop had become close friends after Bishop broke up with her ex-boyfriend, and initially she did not share his concerns about their son, court records say.
In April 2019, Bishop went to the home where the mother and son were living, ostensibly to discuss the boy's drinking and marijuana use and eventually decided to spend the night. However, she had different plans. After the boy's mother went off to sleep, Bishop entered the boy's room and performed sex acts that night, according to a statement the 16-year-old gave authorities. She also threatened him with dire consequences if he shared the incident with anyone.
Arrested at Last
She was arrested by Folsom police on her birthday in June 2019 following a report filed by the boy's parents in their hometown of Folsom, California. She was on paid leave during the investigation and eventually resigned a month later in August 2019 after her arrest. Prosecutors say that Bishop, a five-year veteran at the sheriff's office, did not meet the teen through work or have sex with him on duty.
She now needs to spend six months in custody at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center and another 180 days on the sheriff's work project. Also, Bishop has to register herself as a sex offender as part of the plea agreement worked out with prosecutors that dismissed four other counts against her. She is ordered to surrender on December 11.
