BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Sergeant Stephen Wells with the Kern County Sheriff's Office is facing three felony counts after a woman reported being raped by Wells in her home. Now, a claim for a future lawsuit has been filed.
- In March of 2024, Wells broke into a woman’s house where he forcibly raped her “by means of force, violence, duress, menace or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on said person or another”.
- On January 10, the Sheriff's Department arrested Wells, charging him with first degree residential burglary, assault with intent to commit rape by force or fear, and forcible rape.
Now, a government claim has been filed against Wells and the county of Kern with the intent of becoming a lawsuit.
A woman who alleges she was the victim of rape by a Kern County Sheriff's deputy is now taking steps to filing a lawsuit against her attacker the county.
“The victim here, she reported it the same day that it occurred and she was told that it would be looked into but yet all of this time went by,” said Senior Partner at Rodriguez and Associates, Chantal Trujillo.
As a recap, Sergeant Stephen Wells with the Kern County Sheriffs Office is facing three charges of breaking into a woman’s home to rape her.
The charges include first-degree residential burglary, assault with intent to commit rape by force or fear, and forcible rape.
Trujillo with Rodriguez and Associates represent the alleged victim and filed a claim against Kern County Sheriff Deputy Stephen Wells and the county.
“One of the things we’re looking into is why did it take months for criminal prosecution to just occur. I think one question on all of our minds is if it has just been any other person would it have taken this long,” said Trujillo.
According to Trujillo, the attack occurred back in March of 2024, with an official arrest being made on January 10. The alleged victim is a colleague of Wells.
But aside of alleged lack of accountability, Trujillo says she’s also looking to spread awareness and prevention so this doesn’t happen to someone else.
“None of us want this to happen to anybody and we should never have to face this especially from a law enforcement officer. So she is seeking to gain prevention to make sure that these warning signs, these red flags, these prior reports are taken seriously,” said Trujillo.
Wells is expected to appear in court on February 3rd for an arraignment hearing.
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