Private investigator Luis Bolanos, with Get Bit Investigations and attorney Steve Levine held a news conference asking a grand jury to look into dozens of children were molested by Riverside County Investigator Kevin Duffy. They say the case was covered up by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department after he killed himself in 2009.

“Kids in grade school, in elementary school, who looked up to this man they needed to identify every kid that he had contact with to find out if they were okay,” said Levine.

Since they first announced their investigation in March they say numerous victims have come forward alleging Duffy molested them when they participated in the Sheriff’s Activities League or S.A.L..

“This type of behavior on a child is devastating and all of these kids were left flapping in the wind and Duffy got a hero’s funeral,” says Levine.

Sheriff Stan Sniff says this is a baseless political attack because they did a thorough and exhaustive investigation. He says they interviewed ninety people, served 20 search warrants, had ten investigators on the case and found two separate incidents against one child and since then no other victims have come forward.

Levine says he’s filing a lawsuit on behalf of the victims the sheriff’s department let down, “I’m telling you about one victim who came forward to RSD (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department) who told them what occurred and their whole response was, ‘hey nice knowing you, Duffy killed himself bye.'”

Earlier this year a mother who fears her son was a victim spoke to KMIR, “My son went on camping trips and helped with all kinds of different things with Duffy,” she said.

And two whistle blowers close to the case also came forward to KMIR exclusively claiming investigators were asked not to arrest Duffy despite the mountain of physical evidence they had denying the victims justice.

“People need to know the truth of what happened during the investigation,” said the former RSO employee, who did not want to be identified out of fear.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department sent us this statement:

On March 28, 2018, Mr. Luis Bolanos, held a press conference on the steps of the Riverside County Superior Court House in Riverside, to share his opinion of a 2009 criminal investigation. In response to questions prompted by the press conference, the Department is releasing the following additional information regarding the 2009 investigation.
On January 12, 2009, deputies from the Hemet Sheriff’s Station began an investigation into the allegation that one of their own tenured investigators, Kevin Duffy, had molested a minor child. The investigation was subsequently assigned to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Central Homicide Unit investigators. On January 15, 2009, Mr. Duffy was placed on Administrative Leave.
The investigators worked to identify and contact possible victims and schedule specialized forensic interviews with potentially affected juveniles. The investigators also served search warrants and began evaluating the evidence. As the case steadily progressed, the investigators began to substantiate Mr. Duffy’s involvement in multiple crimes.
On January 25, 2009, while the investigation against Mr. Duffy continued, he took his own life at a motel in the City of Hemet. At that time, the Sheriff’s Department provided a statement to the press identifying Mr. Duffy as a Department investigator, who was on administrative leave amid a criminal investigation. The press release prompted media stories about Mr. Duffy’s death and the associated
criminal investigation. The Department also distributed an internal memorandum informing
Department members of Mr. Duffy’s passing.
To uncover the full extent of Mr. Duffy’s crimes, the investigators interviewed over ninety people; including seventy-five minors who might have had contact with Mr. Duffy. They authored approximately 150 reports, and served more than twenty search warrants. No less than ten
Department investigators and two sergeants worked the case. The investigation substantiated crimes against one child in 2007 and 2009. Due to Mr. Duffy’s sudden death, the criminal investigation was not sent to the District Attorney’s office, as there was no living person to prosecute.
The investigation revealed Mr. Duffy’s contact with the minor child occurred during his service with the Sheriff’s Athletic League (SAL), a Hemet Sheriff’s Station youth outreach program. The investigators worked to identify and interview program participants, until the case was concluded in September2009. When this investigation was initiated the SAL program was ended. The Sheriff’s Department is unable to locate any record of a civil claim or settlement relating to thiscase. While the investigative file is closed, it remains confidential. The Sheriff’s Department believes the investigation was properly closed in 2009. However, anyone wishing to share additional information about this investigation, including Mr. Bolanos, should contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at (951) 955-2777. Additionally, services for those suffering from the impacts of child and or adult abuse can be obtained through the Department of Social Services by calling the Child
Abuse Hotline (800) 442-4918 and or the Adult Services Hotline (800) 491-7123.

Levine says victims will probably not come forward to the sheriff’s department who did nothing about the claims when they came forward nearly a decade ago.

Get Bit Investigations set up their own hotline for victims: (833) – 44 – CHILD.

Private Investigator and Attorney Ask For Grand Jury Investigation on Molestation Alleging Sheriff’s Cover Up