LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department custody assistant pleaded not guilty today to charges that he had unlawful sex with two female inmates at the Century Regional Detention Facility in 2017 and 2018.
Roy'ce Bass -- who was a non-sworn custody assistant at the Lynwood jail -- is charged with four counts of having sex with an adult confined in a detention facility. The crimes allegedly occurred in July 2017 and January 2018.
If convicted as charged, he could face up to five years in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Bass, 29, surrendered in July following an investigation by the sheriff's Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau and was subsequently released on $100,000 bond, according to a statement released by the department.
"The Sheriff's Department finds these allegations deeply troubling. We are committed to transparency and holding our employees fully accountable," according to the statement.
Last month, another sheriff's custody assistant, Daniel Everts, pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted a woman who had been taken to the Lancaster station on June 17, 2019.
Everts, 25, was charged Oct. 6 with one count each of forcible oral copulation, oral copulation by threat or arrest or to deport under color of authority and sexual activity with an adult confined in a detention facility, according to the District Attorney's Office.
That case also stemmed from an investigation by the sheriff's Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau.
Everts could face up to eight years in state prison if convicted as charged.