NOTE CONTENT IN FOLLOWING:
In October of 2011, a junior high school student in Queen Creek made a disturbing allegation to her school psychologist. She said she had been molested on two occasions by her mother's boyfriend.
Two years earlier, she said, she was in her mom's bed when her mother's boyfriend got into bed with her, took off his pants, and rubbed his penis against her buttocks until she awoke and left the room. She said "something similar" occurred a few weeks later, according to investigative records. She was "squeamish and nervous" as she described the incident, according to the school psychologist.
The allegations were troubling enough. But the man accused, Michael Valles, also happened to be a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputy. In his capacity as deputy, Valles worked two days a week as a school resource officer at another Queen Creek middle school.
The allegations were forwarded to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, which contacted Child Protective Services and transferred the case to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. According to the PCSO, the "crimes occurred in Maricopa County" and therefore the case fell under MCSO's domain. That meant the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office would be in charge of investigating its own deputy.
The case landed on the desk of MCSO sheriff's officials during a tumultuous time for Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office. Arpaio was entering a reelection year. In December of the same year, Arpaio was forced to publicly address his office's mishandling of 400 sex crimes cases between 2005 and 2007. Many of the cases involved molestation of children. MCSO blamed poor training, sloppy record-keeping, mismanagement and office politics for the massive oversight.
In regards to this new allegation against one of its own deputies, the MCSO's internal investigations division placed Valles on paid administrative leave and conducted what it called an "internal criminal investigation."
That investigation revealed that Valles repeatedly lied during questioning. He failed a polygraph test. Valles even initially tried to claim the girl might be lying in a ruse to triangulate him against the girl's mother because Valles had recently proposed to her.
But during a second polygraph exam and further questioning, Valles backtracked. He eventually acknowledged he rubbed his erect penis against the girl's buttocks while both were clothed for "about 15 seconds," according to one document. Arizona State Law defines sexual misconduct with a minor as "direct or indirect" contact with a minor involving the genital area.
Despite those findings, MCSO did not charge Valles with a crime. The department did not even submit the case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review of possible charges.
Criminal defense attorney Dwane Cates has represented clients accused of sex crimes for more than 15 years. Cates said Valles' admission meets "the technical definition of sexual abuse" according to Arizona law and that it would have been, at minimum, "prudent" for MCSO to submit the Valles case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in 2011.
"Turning it over to the county attorney's office would allow him to either put it before a grand jury or send it to their charging attorney to make determination whether or not they should charge the case," Cates said. "In this case it appears the sheriff's office was trying to avoid some bad publicity and trying to sweep this under the rug."
Instead, the office fired Valles for violating the department's honesty code of ethics.
A December, 2011 internal affairs report authored by Sgt. WC Morrison states:
"Although it was determined his actions did not constitute a criminal violation, Deputy Valles admitted that out of embarrassment, he purposely made false statements to criminal investigators with the intent to deceive them ...."
Then new allegations from another girl surfaced against Valles this summer.
Last month, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office arrested Valles for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Valles was working at a public pool at the time. He was indicted on 10 counts of engaging in sexual contact with a minor and related charges.
PCSO Sheriff Paul Babeu has alleged that if MCSO had properly handled the 2011 case, the deputy would likely be behind bars and a second alleged victim could have been spared from abuse. An MCSO sheriff's spokesman disregarded Babeu's criticism as a political.
Valles now faces charges in both counties, including sexual misconduct with a minor stemming from the original allegation made in 2011. Valles has pleaded not guilty.
The following timeline of events reflects more detail on how MCSO handled the allegations against Valles, according to supplemental reports from CPS, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
2011
Oct. 19: A memo written by a CPS worker states the alleged victim was at a slumber party when she told a friend she was molested. The alleged victim's friend told a counselor at school the following week.
When the alleged victim was called to the office, she initially denied it happened but after further questions, "she admitted it did occur." The report states: "[The alleged victim] was very squirmy in her chair, and said it was 'yucky and disgusting.'"
According to the report, the alleged victim said a similar situation happened a few weeks later and she told her mother who dismissed the allegation as "girl talk."
"The mother still sees the significant other and the mother has been informed not to tell the significant other about the investigation and to keep the significant other and [the alleged victim] apart, but it is believed the mother will tell the significant other," the report states.
The memo also alleges possible neglect against the alleged victim's mother for downplaying the girl's allegation. "When [the alleged victim] told mother after the second incident mother told [the alleged victim], 'If you make an allegation like this people's lives could be ruined, are you sure it wasn't an accident?'" the report states.
The report goes on, "When mother was contacted from the school today (10-18-11) she said she has known her boyfriend for 10 years and 'he wouldn't do something like that.' Mother also said [the alleged victim] did tell her when it happened and that [the alleged victim] contacted her father about it as well. Mother said she believed [the alleged victim] was making it up and saying it to get 'attention.'"
Oct. 21: A memo written by PCSO Deputy T. Carter states that Combs Middle School psychologist Brad Devar had a follow-up conversation with the alleged victim. "I was advised by Brad that when he conducted follow-up with the victim in this incident ... he was told that she was instructed by her mother, and her mother's boyfriend, Michael Valles, that she was not allowed to speak with Brad any more without her mother being present."
Oct. 24: PCSO sends a letter to MCSO notifying Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office of alleged sex crimes that took place in Maricopa County.
Oct. 26: A "Child Protection Team Report" letter is authored by Dr. Wendy Dutton, a forensics interviewer with the Child Help Team at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Dutton writes that she was contacted by MCSO for "evaluation of possible sexual abuse and provision of diagnosis and treatment recommendations."
Dutton describes interviewing the child, the child's mother and detectives. Dutton recommends that the alleged victim be referred for counseling and that the alleged victim have no contact with Valles "pending completion of criminal and CPS investigations."
Despite that recommendation, there is no indication that Valles was directly instructed by MCSO or anyone else not to have contact with the alleged victim.
Oct. 31: A memo written by the manager of the MCSO Polygraph Services Unit Michael Millstone describes the polygraph test administered to Deputy Valles conducted on Oct. 28. Millstone writes that "The matter under consideration was a possible child molest .…"
Millstone writes there is "one" event to be considered and that it regarded "an allegation that three years ago when [the alleged victim] was approximately nine years of age the subject 'rubbed his penis on her body.'"
In the memo, Millstone wrote that "[the alleged victim] told the story that she, Deputy Valles, and Deputy Valles' natural daughter were in his bed watching TV about three years ago. She said that this occurred on one occasion and that he and she have never talked about it. She stated that he rubbed his penis on her body but that neither of them removed any clothing, and there was no other sexual touching."
Millstone writes that Valles "remembered all of them being in his bed three years ago, but that 'nothing happened' and denied any kind of sexual contact with the child. He stated that he was never aroused to the point of having an erection, nor did he recall any time ever his penis rubbing on her body with or without clothing."
Millstone writes that the statement was consistent with what he told the detective before consenting to a polygraph test.
Millstone writes there was "deception indicated." He wrote that he questioned Valles further and that "This time he admitted to me that he did remember that he was 'erect' … and that his penis did rub on [the alleged victim's] body, specifically her buttocks. He stated that he 'felt embarrassed' about this situation and admitted to lying about it when first asked .…"
Millstone also writes that Valles denied he initiated the contact. It's not clear from the memo whether Millstone concluded whether that statement was determined to be deceptive or not, according to the polygraph.
Millstone concludes by writing, "His admission to lying was reiterated to detectives as well as his reason that he was embarrassed about the situation. This concluded my involvement in the matter. The entire test was DVD recorded and a copy of the video was given to Det. Osborn. It should be reviewed for details."
Nov. 1: A one-page "Incident Report" by MCSO contains the heading "incident/crime." The incident is described as a "suspicious circumstance." The form describes in vague terms the alleged incident and concludes the matter as "unfounded."
2012
Feb. 22: MCSO submits a five-page letter to Valles, notifying him that he is being considered for dismissal of employment for violating MCSO truthfulness policies.
March 6: MCSO letter to Valles notifies him he is terminated. The letter states, in part, "MCSO criminal detectives determined that there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges against you. The case was then forwarded to the IA Administrative Section for Investigation. On December 6, 2011, IA administrative investigators interviewed you. You acknowledged that you … were not truthful with the criminal detectives and the polygraph examiner during their initial interviews with you ...."
Employment records of Valles were also provided to 12 News in response to a public information request. There is no indication Valles was accused of misconduct with students at Barney Junior High School in Queen Creek, where he worked two days of the work week as a resource officer.
Before 2011
Before the initial allegation surfaced in 2011, Valles had received praise from supervisors for his work at the middle school.
"This assignment requires him to spend the majority of his shift on the Barney Junior High School campus and then patrol for the remainder of the shift," wrote Sgt. Larry Kratzer in a June, 2011 evaluation. "I have watched kids stop and talk to Dep. Valles outside of the school setting, which makes it apparent that Dep. Valles is well liked and respected by the students at the school."
Hired by MCSO in 2001, Valles appeared to make a positive impression throughout his career. He was repeatedly commended in performance reviews for his punctuality, professionalism, work ethic and flexibility to work other beats.
In one instance, Valles performed CPR on a young man who had overdosed on drugs, likely saving his life, according to the report.
"I frequently receive emails or notes about how Dep. Valles went above and beyond during a call or how he helped out the squad," a 2010 evaluation states.
Before his assignment to the junior high school, Valles worked as a patrol officer in Queen Creek. MCSO records do not indicate why Valles was assigned to be a school resource officer.
In 2008, one year before the assignment, Valles expressed a desire to work for the Lake Patrol Division and the Sheriff's Threat Squad.
The following timeline of events reflects more detail of how MCSO handled the allegations against Valles, according to supplemental reports from CPS, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
