Ex-SLO County deputy accused of molestation to stay out of custody after not guilty plea
A retired San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputy accused of molesting children will remain out of custody after posting $100,000 bail, despite objections from the county District Attorney’s Office, a judge ruled Thursday.
James Peter Storton of Arroyo Grande appeared at his first San Luis Obispo Superior Court hearing Thursday via Zoom conference from his attorney’s office.
Storton faces eight felony counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 years old, and a ninth charge of lewd acts on a child who was 15 years old at the time of the crime, according to a criminal complaint filed by the District Attorney’s Office.
The charges also carry sentencing enhancements related to the nature of the alleged offenses.
According to the District Attorney’s Office’s filing, Storton is accused of repeatedly illegally touching one of the minors between 2013 and 2019, touching another victim repeatedly between 2015 and March, and he’s accused of a single crime against the third victim in March.
Storton, 63, pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment Thursday. Another hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26.
If convicted of all counts, the retired deputy faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison, Superior Court Judge Dodie Harman said in court Thursday.
Storton was arrested in late May after the Sheriff’s Office said it received information of alleged abuse by the retired deputy and started an investigation.
The investigation was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, which filed the multiple counts against Storton in May.
Officials have not released any details about the alleged abuse to protect the victims and their families.
Storton was hired to work in the Sheriff’s Office in 1980. He retired in 2009, according to the release.
He is the brother of Arroyo Grande City Councilman Keith Storton, who previously declined to comment on the arrest to The Tribune, saying the situation was a personal family matter.
James Storton was released from San Luis Obispo County Jail after posting $100,000 bond in May.
In court Thursday, deputy district attorney Melissa Chabra requested that Harman increase Storton’s bail on public safety grounds, saying the bail amount automatically set by jail officials was too low given the offenses.
Storton’s attorney, Patrick Fisher, said his client could not afford higher bail and the move was an attempt to keep Storton in jail for the remainder of his case.
After taking a break in the hearing for an in-chambers review of the police report, Harman declined to impose a higher bail, but put strict requirements on Storton should he remain out of custody.
Storton is required to surrender his passport and any firearms, submit to searches at any time, not leave the state, have no access to the internet other than to email Fisher, and to have no contact with any minors.
After the hearing, Fisher told The Tribune that Storton “vehemently asserts his innocence” of the allegations, and that after he read the police reports, the attorney said he was “having trouble seeing why” the District Attorney’s Office filed charges.
Fisher called the case “terrible” and said that his client’s name will be cleared once the facts are presented in court.
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 1:21 PM.
