LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Sheriff’s Deputy Charged With Attempted Rape

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy on Wednesday was charged with attempted rape, assault and false imprisonment for allegedly stopping bar waitresses and dancers and then pressuring them to date him or have sex with him.

David Jefferson Key allegedly went into two adult clubs--the Holiday and the Casbah--in uniform and waited for the women as they left work, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Randall J. Baron. With the patrol car’s lights flashing, he allegedly pulled over eight women in the Santa Fe Springs area as they left work, usually about 2 a.m., Baron said.

In most cases, Key would detain the women for up to 30 minutes to flirt with them and ask them out, Baron said. But in one instance, Key allegedly attempted to rape a woman in a parking lot.

Key, 27, has been charged with one count each of attempted rape by threat of arrest, sexual battery by restraint, assault by an officer under color of authority and eight counts of false imprisonment by violence. The alleged crimes occurred in 1992 and 1993 while Key was assigned to the sheriff’s Norwalk station.

Key was being held Wednesday on $175,000 bail. His attorney did not return telephone calls.