Former deputy admits to sextortion

Officer guilty on 13 charges where threats forced women into sex acts, making videos

A former Riverside County sheriff’s correctional deputy has pleaded guilty to 13 felony charges after prosecutors said he threatened four women who were under house arrest with jail time unless they performed sex acts and sent him videos.

Christian Phillip Heidecker, 32, is due to be sentenced on March 7 at Southwest Justice Center in French Valley. He pleaded guilty to four counts of extortion, four counts of dissuading a witness, four counts of being a peace officer soliciting a bribe and one count of being a detention officer engaging in a sex act with a consenting adult.

The terms of his plea agreement filed in Superior Court say he is to serve five years in state prison. Heidecker, who is being held without bail, made the plea to the judge on Friday over the objections of the District Attorney’s Office.

“Our office will be arguing at sentencing that the defendant’s conduct merits a state prison sentence greater than the court’s indicated sentence of five years,” said John Hall, a spokesman for the DA’s Office.

Heidecker resigned after his arrest on Sept. 15.

Separately, at least two of the victims have sued the county. Their attorney, Denisse Gastelum, said Heidecker would dangle promises that the women, who were not in jail but were wearing ankle monitors, could spend more time away from home or with their families in exchange for sex.

Heidecker was assigned to the Riverside Alternative Sentencing Program at the Coordinated Custody Management Unit in Banning. Case managers have the authority to order participants to jail if they do not comply with the terms of their house arrest.

Heidecker did not actually have physical contact with the women and communicated via text messages.

One of the victims explained to a district attorney’s investigator why she exchanged messages with Heidecker.

“I did not want to go back to jail,” she said, according to a court filing by the DA’s Office. “I missed my children’s birthday. I did not want to violate any issue with this program. I was willing to do anything to stay on the program. Whatever it took.”