Escambia Deputy Charged With Sexual Assault

April 29, 2010

An Escambia County deputy has been arrested, charged with sexually assaulting a woman.

Deputy Mike Priest, an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office employee since August, 2006, was charged with two counts of sexual assault – sexual battery on a victim over twelve. His bond was set at $40,000.

On March 14, the Pensacola Police Department was contacted by a woman that claimed she was sexually assaulted by Priest at Pensacola Beach.

“According to the victim, she had been at Captain Funs, a nightclub on Pensacola Beach and had been separated from her friend. Deputy Priest, who was working in an off-duty capacity and whom she had known for several years, offered her a ride home after he could not locate her friend. According to the victim, Deputy Priest drove her from Pensacola Beach to her father’s residence where he demanded sexual favors. The victim stated that Deputy Priest threatened to take her to jail for public intoxication if she did not do so. According the victim, she felt as if she had no choice but to participate,” according to a release Wednesday from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Comments

16 Responses to “Escambia Deputy Charged With Sexual Assault”

  1. fahq65 on March 26th, 2011 7:00 am

    what ever happened to the deputy in this case did he go to jail or what

  2. dunno it on April 30th, 2010 3:45 pm

    I don’t blame the victim but I can’t believe she complied. I would have
    told him to take me to jail and got a lawyer the minute I got there.

    This jerk cops deserves what this had better do to his career….

  3. la redneck on April 29th, 2010 6:16 pm

    It’s a sure bet if She had went to the jailhouse and made allegations, the Lady would’ve sat in the hoosegow till Monday morning at least. innocent, guilty or not! the wheels of justice turn, just reeaal slow. especially sitting in the can.

  4. not an english major on April 29th, 2010 10:29 am

    The victim, YIP, is 26 years old. She is not underage!

    Deputies are officers 24/7! It does not matter what they are doing, they are still officers, on or off duty!

    If you have known an officer for 4 years, that has never tried anything before, you feel that you can trust this person! No doubt, this young woman thought just that, never dreaming he would try anything like that. She may be a little naive, but, there are many women that are! She trusted him after getting separated from her friend and he took advantage of that situation!

    Shame on any of you that are trying to blame this woman!

  5. broken on April 29th, 2010 10:06 am

    the victim here is just that, she is a victim. youth is suppose to be of the innocent. she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and seen a face that she knew, never thinking that something could go wrong. the deputy took advantage of her situation. i give her snaps and praise for coming forward in this. this happens more that what you think it does but nothing is said. some people think they are above doing wrong but somehow it will come back on them.

  6. Beach Resident on April 29th, 2010 10:00 am

    I live on the beach and I see these deputies on a regular basis. Most of the time they are congregating in a group oogling the bikinis at the boardwalk. If someone wanted to pull a hiest on the other side of the beach, these yoyos would be late responding because they are not disbursed. They spend most of their time hassling young kids for drinking and partying and a couple of them act like they are on steroids and Gestapo agents. The supervisor of these deputies needs to rein these wannbe storm troopers in. This incident does not suprise me in the least.

    2 year beach resident.

  7. Not Again on April 29th, 2010 9:47 am

    To Bob she had known this jerk for a few years so she probably felt safe not to mention we’re taught to trust the law. If he is guilty of this, just because she was at a bar doesn’t mean the jerk had a right to do this. Most of the time the good ole boy attitude jumps in and the law covers for their own, I know this from personal experience more then once. The law can say they will have an eternal investigation all they want but 90% of the time in will go in favor of their own. Before blaming a women for being in the wrong place, wearing the wrong clothes, or putting themselves at risk in some way let’s get all the facts.

  8. yip on April 29th, 2010 9:41 am

    Why did the parents let their duaghter go out to a night club in the first place?especially if she was under age. she should have been at home doing homework.,but be that as it may the deputy.did wrong and should be punished.

  9. Sentinel on April 29th, 2010 9:30 am

    That’s it “punk,” blame the victim and let her take a ride to jail while intoxicated; I’m sure everybody there would believe her, NOT! This deputy was out of control and now he’ll be looking for a new line of work in a striped suit, and it’s too bad he wasn’t discovered sooner.

  10. billy on April 29th, 2010 9:28 am

    There sure are a lot of allegations like this againts law enforcement lately. What I have noticed is that most of the charges are dropped or dismissed after a few weeks.

  11. RSB on April 29th, 2010 9:09 am

    Are deputies always on duty? If not, why are they allowed to take squad cars to any second job they may have or use them for private errands?
    If a deputy working as a bouncer in a night club (not exactly the safest job) would get hurt, would the club owner’s insurance be responsible or the Sheriff’s Office?

  12. not an english major on April 29th, 2010 8:37 am

    I read this story in PNJ when it first happened. He did this in her father’s driveway!

    There are many great officers out there! Then there are ones like this one that let their power supercede them and make a bad name for the good officers. I for one am glad he has been charged and this was not swept under the proverbial rug!

    Sorry whitepunk, I am in agreeance with Anna on this one, even though you know you are being “blackmailed” more like pressured beyond belief, no one would believe a person that was intoxicated at the time. She was scared and did what she thought she had to!

    My sympathy and prayers are with the victim!

  13. Bob on April 29th, 2010 8:33 am

    You have to have some self respect, always keeping in mind where you go and who may be watching you. Statistics prove 82% of all these assaults occur from a friend or family. Keeping that in mind women should know better than to put themselves at risk.

  14. Anna on April 29th, 2010 7:59 am

    to whitepunkondope … regarding your remark… You can realize you’re being blackmailed and tell the him to go ahead and take you to jail. THEN you get in front of his superior and blow the whistle on the jerk.

    This only works if you are not intoxicated. The idea was for her not to charged when she should have been. If you are intoxicated and confront his superior about his actions, who do you think the superior is going to believe? I side with the victim here, she did what she felt she had to do to avoid being arrested for something she WAS guilty of.

  15. NotA Weirdo on April 29th, 2010 7:06 am

    Hmmmmm….. Sounds a little fishy to me!

  16. whitepunknotondope on April 29th, 2010 6:25 am

    “The victim stated that Deputy Priest threatened to take her to jail for public intoxication if she did not do so. According the victim, she felt as if she had no choice but to participate,”

    Wrong. You can realize you’re being blackmailed and tell the him to go ahead and take you to jail. THEN you get in front of his superior and blow the whistle on the jerk.