Santa Barbara County Agrees to Settlement in Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Jail Staff

Santa Barbara County has reached a settlement in a case involving a former inmate and a county jail employee. The lawsuit, initiated by a woman who remains anonymous under the pseudonym Jane Doe, was scheduled for a jury trial on September 17. However, the county opted to settle the case on September 4.

The legal action stemmed from events in 2018, when Doe, while being transferred from the Main Jail to a residential treatment facility known as Bethel House, was sexually assaulted by Salvador Vargas, a jail employee serving as a discharge planner at the time.

According to legal documents, Vargas coerced Doe into believing she was indebted to him for her release, culminating in an assault where Doe was groped and forced into non-consensual acts.

The lawsuit highlighted a pattern, pointing out that three separate sexual assault complaints had been lodged against Vargas by other inmates in the years leading up to the attack on Doe. These earlier complaints, according to the lawsuit, were met with a degree of indifference from the responsible authorities and a lack of thorough investigation into the complaints.

The lawsuit accused the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office of a “policy of inaction” and “deliberate indifference,” which facilitated the conditions for Doe’s assault. Vargas eventually faced legal consequences for his actions, pleading guilty to two felony charges just before his scheduled trial in 2022. He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence.

While the terms of the settlement have not been finalized, details are expected to be publicly available in the upcoming weeks.

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