Deschutes sheriff places Lt. Tim Leak on paid leave

Deschutes County sheriff’s patrol Lt. Tim Leak, a 23-year veteran of the department, has been placed on paid administrative leave “for allegations of violating sheriff’s office policies,” Sheriff Shane Nelson told his staff Wednesday afternoon.

“The alleged policy violations are not criminal in nature,” Nelson wrote. The sheriff told NewsChannel 21 that unlike previous incidents that led to the departure of captains Scott Beard and Eric Utter, the allegations regarding Leak don’t involve personal relationships with office employees.

“Because our investigation into this matter is ongoing, I am limited in what I can share,” Nelson said in a news release.

Nelson said he became aware of the allegations through the ongoing administrative investigation by Capt, John Bocciolatt. He said Leak was placed on leave “after new information came to the attention of command staff in the last week.”

:”As your sheriff, if there is an issue within the organization, I will take care of business,” Nelson wrote to his staff and the public.

“We have faced challenging issues and, in response, we have added layers of oversight to help us identify, investigate and address issues within the sheriff’s office,” he added.

“Right now, we are continuing to work through a period of change. We remain committed to doing the right thing and to being as transparent as possible with the citizens we serve,” Nelson wrote.

The sheriff’s office has faced a great deal of public scrutiny over the past year including the departure earlier this year of two high-ranking officials and an ongoing state investigation of a December 2014 overdose death in the jail.

They include the resignation of Erik Utter, the department’s patrol captain, and the firing of Scott Beard, the department’s detectives captain.

Utter resigned in February after he admitted to an internal investigator he had an affair with a female subordinate, while Beard was indicted in February on passport fraud, theft and money laundering charges, involving gifts to a woman who used to work for the department..Beard had pleaded not guilty but is scheduled to change his plea May 23.

Nelson told NewsChannel 21 he wants to be transparent as possible with both employees and residents about what’s going on in regards to this investigation

“Once the investigation is complete and I’m able to discuss more specifics, I will do so,” Nelson said.