For my friends working at the County of San Bernardino who want to see the salaries of other county workers click on this link from the Sun and choose the job http://www.sbsun.com/salaries

I found verification of this story on a separate High Desert blog at www.crittercollectibles.com/blog2/  IT IS THE SAME GUY. Read the entire story and decide for yourself. Sharon was there at the time it happened. It is going to be difficult to provide specific details of the case and the innocence or guilt of Abernathie. Kinda of like OJ Simpson. If I can find documents where he admits having sex with the girl, but claims he didn't know she was underage its the same excuse as any other pedophile. The fact that he was fired and arrested and went to trial for it is not enough for some people. It would be if it were your daughter. Sharons version-

I found this to be amusing. You see, I was the captain’s secretary when on February 14, 1986 a wedding took place where a sheriff’s deputy and a dispatcher were married. After the wedding another sheriff’s employee accused one or more deputies of raping her. By the time the investigation concluded it was alledged that a sheriff’s employee was raped, a sheriff’s volunteer was raped, another female employee had consensual sex with other sheriff’s employees on county time and on county property, and a number of deputy sheriffs had had sex with an underaged explorer scout. All the accused employees resigned, except for Bill “Beef” Abernathie, who was fired. Five deputies, including Abernathie, were arrested on various sex charges.

This was a story the Sheriff’s Department tried to cover up but one of the accused’s wives had other ideas and tipped off DP reporter Elizabeth Chambers. Eventually, the story made the national news. My captain was away at Quantico going through the FBI Academy. I was told by the Deputy Chief not to tell him so that he wouldn’t worry while he was away. Unfortunately, Dan Rather had other ideas and reported it on the 6 p.m. news. And Victorville got put on the map.

It wasn’t long after this that I became disgusted with cops and left the Sheriff’s Department. I didn’t really follow the cases as they made their way through the court system.

I did not give the case much thought for about 16 years or so. Then a controversy arose between Hansberger and Postmus. Somehow, and I cannot remember the circumstances, Abernathie was involved due to his affiliation with SEBA. One of my co-workers was close to SEBA so I asked why Hansberger did not use this situation to his advantage. I was told that the sex scandal had been swept under the carpet at the time and Hansberger knew nothing of it. I was also told that Abernathie’s first trial ended in a hung jury, 11-1 in favor of conviction. He second trial ended in acquittal. He went on to say that because of the way the law was written at the time, he was able to get off by claiming he did not know the explorer scout was under 18. If the trial took place today, he would have been convicted.

I CANNOT attest to what happened in court. I can attest to what happened when I worked at the Sheriff’s Department and I will write more about that soon.

I got a tip last week that Bill Abernathie, the President of the San Bernardino County Safety Employees' Benefit Association (SEBA) was arrested for the rape of a 17 year old Explorer Scout who worked at the Victorville Sheriffs station in 1986. That was 22 years ago. I will post other versions of this story as I get them including the Daily Press one. I am not making any allegations, but I believe that it is the same Bill Abernathie of SEBA who donated $38,500 to Mitzelfelts campaign. I don't have any other details at the moment but I will research it through and post them as I get them. 

I think that this is the same guy endorsing Brad Mitzelfelt, and his  "crack down on gangs and sex offenders in our neighborhoods".

I'll show you the SEBA paid for political ad  for Brad Mitzelfelt first

Below is the LA Times story from March 23,1986

5 Ex-Deputies, 6th Man Charged in Rape

Five former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and a sixth man have been charged with raping a 17-year-old female Explorer Scout who worked at the Victorville sheriff's station. Deputy Sheriff Ronnie Lynn Wimberly, 30, was charged with forcible rape, assault with intent to commit rape and sexual battery for an incident that reportedly occurred on Feb. 14, Sheriff's Department officials said. Former deputies Robert Mason Swindle, 31, James Bradley Dawson, 37,William Abernathie Jr., 28, and Timothy Ray Retzlaff, 27, were charged with statutory rape for allegedly having sex with a female under 18 years of age in incidents that reportedly occurred over a two-year period, sheriff's spokesman Jim Bryant said. A sixth man, Rex Lair, 26, also was charged with statutory rape. Warrants were issued for the arrests of the six men.

Here's one of the Daily Press stories from 1986

So far that's all I have. I don't know how the trial or trials came out or any other details. You make up you own mind. Email me at paveroadsfirst@ verizon.net if you have any other or more information. If it's not the same guy please send the proof that it is not and I'll remove the page. Until then, my tip seems to be correct.