A former Klamath County sheriff’s deputy is serving time in jail…after pleading guilty to sex charges.
Joshua Bryant cut a deal which took him from felony to misdemeanor charges.
40 year old Joshua Bryant was arrested in June of last year on multiple counts of first-degree sexual abuse and unlawful sexual penetration – felony charges that carried serious prison time.
But on March sixth, Bryant pled ‘guilty’ to one count of coercion, and two counts of harassment…both are misdemeanor charges.
The plea deal got him about three months in the Hood River Jail, and 18 months probation.
While it wasn’t her case, Klamath County Deputy District Attorney Sharon Forster explains how the case may have been pled down…
“From an indictment, the information that comes forward to a grand jury that justifies a grand jury indicting, and then what develops afterwards may make it difficult for a prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Bryant was accused of spiking the drinks of two women in May of last year, then molesting them at a vacation cottage just north of Brookings.
Authorities were investigating if Bryant may have been involved in similar activities in other counties…but Forster says, “There is nothing pending in Klamath County at this time. Anything that would come from something that happened in our county would be handled by the Attorney General’s office.”
Bryant resigned from the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office after the initial allegations were made.
As part of his plea agreement, Bryant must undergo sex offender evaluation, and surrender his law enforcement badge.
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