'Battlestar Galactica' 'Revenge, Payback' Facebook Post Gets Ex-Sheriff Deputy's Bail Upped by $200K
A former San Bernardino County, Calif., sheriff’s deputy got slapped with a $200,000 increase in his bail on teen-sex charges after allegedly putting a “revenge, payback” post on Facebook.
Nathan James Gastineau, 31, whose bail is now $350,000, said during a hearing in San Bernardino County Circuit Court yesterday that the comment on his Support Gastineau page was part of a quote from a television program, reports the L.A. Now page of the Los Angeles Times.
The Loma Linda Patch, which provides the full text of the post, reports that Gastineau said he didn’t intend to threaten the teen and took the objected-to words from the Battlestar Galactica television show. Gastineau is an avid science-fiction fan and has been involved in a number of related clubs.
Charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child and illegal sexual intercourse with a minor concerning his alleged interaction with one of the sheriff’s department’s teenage Explorer program volunteers, Gastineau has pleaded not guilty. Two other men charged in similar cases involving teens in the Explorer program have taken pleas. A Press-Enterprise article provides additional information about the cases against Gastineau, another former sheriff’s deputy and a third man.
Gastineau oversaw the Explorer program at the Highland station. It is directed at youths interested in law-enforcement careers.
After a second sheriff’s deputy was arrested on similar charges concerning another teenage Explorer program participant in early May, two weeks after Gastineau, the ride-along portion of the program was suspended, an earlier Press-Enterprise article reports.
