A former San Diego County sheriff's deputy who was previously sentenced for fondling and inappropriately touching more than a dozen women while on duty was booked again into custody Monday after an appellate court ruled he was released before properly completing his jail sentence.
Richard Fischer, 36, was originally sentenced to 44 months in county jail after pleading guilty to charges that include assault under color of authority for accosting 16 women between 2015 and 2017. Prosecutors say some of the women were people he'd arrested and others he met after the victims had called police for assistance.
Fischer was released in May of 2020 following five months in custody after being credited with 956 days for time served in pre-trial home detention.
According to the ruling from a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Fischer's sentencing judge ruled Fischer was mistakenly awarded those credits, as home detention was not ordered while Fischer was out on bail. Fischer was instead required to be monitored via GPS and to stay away from the victims.
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Fischer was ordered back to jail, but was released again last April pending his appeal of the judge's order. The appellate court agreed with the judge and last year vacated the order on Sept. 26, 2022, that awarded Fischer the 956 days of credit.
Fischer assaulted the women while on duty and in uniform, including victims who had called the department for help or to report a crime. He pleaded guilty to four felony counts of assault and battery by an officer, two counts of misdemeanor assault by an officer and one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment.
Fischer's plea agreement was reached on the day the trial was scheduled to begin. An amended criminal complaint was filed at that time with the seven charges involving 16 women, far fewer and less severe than the 20 charges the district attorney's office had at one point filed against the former deputy; all charges of sexual assault were dropped.
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The women accused Fischer of hugging or kissing them without consent, groping them and even forcing them to perform oral copulation during incidents between July 2015 and August 2017 in several communities, including Vista, Lakeside, El Cajon and San Marcos.
Fischer's sentence included a 16-month GPS monitoring period to follow his incarceration. Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein also ruled Fischer will not have to register as a sex offender based in part on psychiatric evaluations that determined Fischer did not have sexual pathology, but rather, “an emotional motive structured around power.”
At the sentencing, Fischer’s attorney said the former deputy was remorseful and apologetic and called the sentence “fair and appropriate."
“Mr. Fischer has acknowledged that he tarnished the badge and he is deeply remorseful. He’s deeply remorseful and sends his apologies not only to the victims in this case, but also to their families and to fellow women law enforcement officers,” said attorney Gretchen Von Helms.
Until his guilty plea, Fischer had repeatedly denied he assaulted women while under the color of authority, at one point telling NBC 7, "These false allegations are extremely hurtful and disheartening."
Fischer once said the allegations were contrary to his personal and professional background, which includes eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and eight years as a police officer and sheriff's deputy.
Fischer worked as a civil affairs specialist during his time in the Marine Corps Reserve from 2005 to 2013. He told NBC 7 he was involved in gathering intelligence while deployed in Afghanistan.
He first started as an officer with the Southgate Police Department in 2008. He joined the San Diego County Sheriff's Department in 2011.
