Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / Jaylen Devon Fleer - A Wolf in Uniform

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Jaylen Devon Fleer - A Wolf in Uniform · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: In early twenty twenty, a tip submitted through a crime
0:10
Speaker 1: reporting system triggered an investigation that would shake a southern
0:15
Speaker 1: California law enforcement agency. The report pointed to a San
0:20
Speaker 1: Diego sheriff deputy and allegations that he had been communicating
0:24
Speaker 1: with and soliciting sex with minors online. As detectives began
0:30
Speaker 1: digging into the case, Dan covered disturbing evidence involving social media,
0:35
Speaker 1: hidden identities, and multiple victims. The investigation would ultimately lead
0:42
Speaker 1: to that deputy's arrest in a case that raised serious
0:45
Speaker 1: questions about trust and accountability. This is the story of
0:51
Speaker 1: the child predator named Jalen Devon Flear.
0:56
Speaker 2: My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked
1:00
Speaker 2: and Grim, a true crime podcast. Warning.
1:05
Speaker 1: The following podcast material in more mature audience listener discretion.
1:33
Speaker 1: I'm excited for our walk tomorrow, are you? I am.
1:36
Speaker 2: It's been a while since we visited the tree, the
1:38
Speaker 2: Wicked and Grim Tree.
1:40
Speaker 1: Yes, so, you guys, you know our logo. You're probably
1:43
Speaker 1: listening to this podcast and you're familiar with our logo,
1:45
Speaker 1: the tree and everything. Yeah, it's a real tree about
1:48
Speaker 1: a few kilometers from where we live. And we're gonna go.
1:50
Speaker 1: We're gonna go see it tomorrow where we used to live. Yeah, well,
1:53
Speaker 1: I mean it's in the same city. Yeah, just on
1:56
Speaker 1: the other end of the city now yeah.
1:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, it used to be very close, but now it's
1:59
Speaker 2: a little bit further away. But yeah, it's a legit tree.
2:02
Speaker 1: It is. We're gonna go take the dogs, go for
2:03
Speaker 1: a stroll, and yeah, it's gonna bean. He probably take
2:06
Speaker 1: a selfie and post it on social media, because why not.
2:08
Speaker 2: But well, I don't think Honey's ever been there, just Ripley, Really,
2:13
Speaker 2: I'm pretty Oh.
2:15
Speaker 1: I'm sure she's been there, hasn't She don't think she has.
2:18
Speaker 1: Oh okay, well it's gonna be her first time at
2:20
Speaker 1: the wickeding Grim Tree.
2:21
Speaker 2: We'll introduce her to the tree.
2:22
Speaker 1: She'll be like, cool, Yeah, it's a tree. She might
2:26
Speaker 1: even pee on it, who knows. But I'm stoked. It's
2:29
Speaker 1: kind of gonna be a nice, little, uh, I don't know, visit.
2:33
Speaker 1: I feel like that tree has a personality for us,
2:35
Speaker 1: you know what I mean?
2:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, nice little family owning.
2:37
Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaking of family, this is not exactly the most
2:43
Speaker 1: family friendly episode we're covering today, because this is involving
2:48
Speaker 1: miners and a sexual predator targeting said miners. So heads
2:51
Speaker 1: up on that.
2:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, no kidding, and shout out it's gonna be a
2:56
Speaker 2: bit rough.
2:57
Speaker 1: It's rough, for sure, but shout out to her. Paid.
3:00
Speaker 1: We have a little feed, a little chat where they
3:03
Speaker 1: recommend cases all the time, and this one comes from
3:05
Speaker 1: in there.
3:06
Speaker 2: So it's awesome to have that they have our back.
3:09
Speaker 1: They do. Once in a while, I'm like, oh, I
3:10
Speaker 1: just can't find anything, and then I go scrolling through
3:13
Speaker 1: their recommendations and it's I usually find something pretty quick
3:15
Speaker 1: because they got some good cases.
3:17
Speaker 2: They sure do.
3:18
Speaker 1: So are you ready for this one?
3:20
Speaker 2: Though, Yeah, let's do it.
3:21
Speaker 1: Just dive right into it, I think. So okay, well,
3:24
Speaker 1: let's get on with this case. And like I said,
3:26
Speaker 1: trigger warning, you've been warned. You ready, Okay. So, from
3:31
Speaker 1: a young age, many of us are taught the same lesson.
3:34
Speaker 1: When something's wrong, find a police officer. They are the
3:38
Speaker 1: ones meant to help and the ones who are meant
3:40
Speaker 1: to protect. Authorities carry a very powerful weight because of
3:43
Speaker 1: that trust. They have a badge, a uniform, and a
3:46
Speaker 1: position of responsibility that signals safety and it tells the
3:50
Speaker 1: public that the person wearing it has been entrusted with
3:53
Speaker 1: protecting the community, but trust can be exploited, and there
3:58
Speaker 1: are also some of us who taught a different lesson
4:01
Speaker 1: that even authorities and officers can be corrupt. Because in
4:06
Speaker 1: the modern world, predators can be anywhere, and they don't
4:10
Speaker 1: always hide in dark alleys or abandoned places. Many now
4:14
Speaker 1: operate from behind the scenes, may be using social media
4:17
Speaker 1: and messaging apps to try and reach out into people's homes,
4:20
Speaker 1: their phones, and even their lives. Platforms designed for connection
4:25
Speaker 1: can also become a tool for manipulation, especially when those
4:29
Speaker 1: using them know exactly how to gain someone's trust. And
4:33
Speaker 1: sometimes the people hiding behind those screens, well, sometimes they're
4:37
Speaker 1: not strangers at all. Sometimes they are the people who
4:40
Speaker 1: hold positions of authority, people the public have been taught
4:45
Speaker 1: to trust without question. When that happens, the betrayal runs
4:50
Speaker 1: deeper than a single crime. It shatters the sense of
4:53
Speaker 1: safety that authority is supposed to represent, and in this case,
4:57
Speaker 1: that trust was broken in one of the most disturbing
5:01
Speaker 1: and unimaginable ways. Jalen Devon Fleer was born in nineteen
5:08
Speaker 1: ninety three and he grew up in Sante California, which
5:12
Speaker 1: is a suburban community in San Diego County. From everything
5:15
Speaker 1: I could find online, his early life appeared fairly typical.
5:19
Speaker 1: By the time he reached high school, he had developed
5:22
Speaker 1: a reputation as a strong athlete with a future that
5:25
Speaker 1: seemed to be heading in a positive direction. He attended
5:28
Speaker 1: Santana High School, graduating in twenty eleven, and during his
5:32
Speaker 1: time there he stood out on the baseball field. Standing
5:36
Speaker 1: at six foot four inches tall, he had a physical
5:38
Speaker 1: build of a natural athlete and was known amongst classmates
5:42
Speaker 1: as someone heavily involved in sports. Now he played both
5:45
Speaker 1: baseball and football, but baseball in particular will it appeared
5:49
Speaker 1: to be where he showed the most promise as a pitcher.
5:53
Speaker 1: Jalen competed in the San Diego Storm, a local baseball organization,
5:58
Speaker 1: and later continued playing that sport at Grossman College. For
6:02
Speaker 1: a time, it looked like baseball might remain a major
6:05
Speaker 1: part of his life. But no matter how you look
6:07
Speaker 1: at his youth or analyze his upbringing, nothing that we
6:11
Speaker 1: know of his early years suggested that Jalen would be
6:15
Speaker 1: well one day a predator at the center of a
6:18
Speaker 1: criminal investigation that would draw national attention to the people
6:23
Speaker 1: around him he was just a typical young man from
6:26
Speaker 1: a southern California suburb, someone that followed a path built
6:31
Speaker 1: around sports, school, and community. But at some point after
6:34
Speaker 1: his time playing baseball, Jalen stopped continuing down the athletic
6:39
Speaker 1: route and he chose a career that placed him in
6:43
Speaker 1: a position of authority as he decided to pursue law enforcement.
6:47
Speaker 1: It was in June of twenty fifteen when he joined
6:50
Speaker 1: the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. He was beginning what
6:54
Speaker 1: appeared to be a stable path in law enforcement, and
6:56
Speaker 1: Jalen was assigned to the Department of Detention Services Bureau,
7:01
Speaker 1: where he worked primarily inside the county's jail system. His
7:04
Speaker 1: duties placed him in the San Diego Central Jail, one
7:08
Speaker 1: of the main detention facilities in the region, and as
7:10
Speaker 1: a correctional deputy, his responsibility involved supervising inmates, maintaining order
7:16
Speaker 1: inside the facility, and working within the jail and court
7:19
Speaker 1: services units that handled detainees moving through the county's criminal
7:23
Speaker 1: justice system. For the next several years, Jalen continued working
7:28
Speaker 1: within that role. Now. Records show he remained with the
7:31
Speaker 1: Sheriff's Department for just over five years building a career
7:35
Speaker 1: within that system. By twenty nineteen, compensation records indicated that
7:40
Speaker 1: he earned roughly one hundred and sixteen thousand in total
7:44
Speaker 1: pay and benefits, with a base salary of about sixty
7:47
Speaker 1: five thousand. By all accounts, Jalen held a position that
7:50
Speaker 1: carried public trust and authority, and there were no widely
7:54
Speaker 1: reported issues tied to his work. To those around him,
7:57
Speaker 1: former classmates, coworkers, and members of the community, Jayleen now
8:02
Speaker 1: in his new career, was just another part of law enforcement,
8:05
Speaker 1: moving on doing better in his life, and nothing about
8:08
Speaker 1: his public image at the time suggested that his true
8:11
Speaker 1: self would surface. In fact, it was in the spring
8:16
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty that everything began to unravel. According to
8:22
Speaker 1: court records and investigators, the core of the case against
8:26
Speaker 1: Jayleen Fleer centered around a short but extremely troubling period
8:30
Speaker 1: of time. The crimes occurred between March twenty seventh and
8:35
Speaker 1: April eighth of twenty twenty, a window of just under
8:38
Speaker 1: two weeks long. Now. During that time, prosecutors say Jayalen
8:42
Speaker 1: was communicating with multiple miners through social media and messaging platforms,
8:47
Speaker 1: primarily using Snapchat. Because you know, Snapchat has that function
8:52
Speaker 1: of things get deleted. Right.
8:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of Snapchat. I never
8:58
Speaker 2: really have been. Its one app that I have used
9:03
Speaker 2: very briefly.
9:04
Speaker 1: I would say I'm the same. I've had a few
9:06
Speaker 1: friends I've talked with on there, but it's not something
9:09
Speaker 1: I've used much. I've probably sent like under one hundred
9:11
Speaker 1: messages on there in total. And like Snapchat, it has
9:15
Speaker 1: a bad rap because because of being able to have
9:19
Speaker 1: those messages deleted, it's a positive thing. You're notified if
9:23
Speaker 1: someone takes a screenshot of the conversation. Photos disappear after
9:27
Speaker 1: you look at them immediately, however, so do the records
9:31
Speaker 1: of what's sent. Don't get me wrong on this. I
9:34
Speaker 1: didn't research the exact Snapchat stuff, so this is kind
9:37
Speaker 1: of off the top of my head. I could be wrong,
9:39
Speaker 1: but I believe Snapchat actually permanently deletes things. I think
9:43
Speaker 1: within twenty four days of the image being sent, so
9:46
Speaker 1: even authorities can't go back and look upon these things.
9:49
Speaker 2: Oh jez, that doesn't seem good.
9:51
Speaker 1: Again, don't quote me on that. I think it's somewhere
9:53
Speaker 1: around that vicinity, but I'm not certain, because.
9:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're notified if a photo is someone taken a
10:00
Speaker 2: screenshot of a photo.
10:01
Speaker 1: As far as I know, anything in the snap I believe,
10:04
Speaker 1: whether it's photos or the conversation or anything.
10:07
Speaker 2: I think it's just photos. Oh maybe, but I remember
10:10
Speaker 2: it always just stressing me out too, because everyone's all,
10:12
Speaker 2: you know, you don't break our streak or whatever where
10:15
Speaker 2: you have to send a photo every day or photo
10:17
Speaker 2: yeah this twenty four hours or I don't even know,
10:19
Speaker 2: and that always stressed me out. Well, I think that's
10:22
Speaker 2: another reason I didn't like the app.
10:24
Speaker 1: That was how I mostly used it. I messaged a
10:26
Speaker 1: couple friends here and there, and then yeah, I turned
10:28
Speaker 1: into the streak and then we're like a few weeks
10:30
Speaker 1: streak and it's like we're not even messaging each other.
10:32
Speaker 1: We just hit like a period or an exclamation mark,
10:35
Speaker 1: or just send a random photo just for the streak numbers. Yeah.
10:38
Speaker 2: Yeah.
10:38
Speaker 1: For me, snapchat is not something I'm really going to
10:41
Speaker 1: have in my life, but many people use it, and
10:44
Speaker 1: it does get a bad rap and a good rap
10:47
Speaker 1: for the same reasons. Now, through these conversations that Jalen
10:50
Speaker 1: was having on there, investigators later determined that he was
10:53
Speaker 1: attempting to arrange in person meetings and encourage the girls
10:58
Speaker 1: to meet with him privately. The criminal complaint would eventually
11:02
Speaker 1: identify four victims, all of which who were between the
11:05
Speaker 1: ages of twelve and fourteen years old.
11:08
Speaker 2: Oh that is young.
11:10
Speaker 1: In court documents, their identities were protected, and rightfully so,
11:13
Speaker 1: they were referred to simply as Jane Doe one, Jane
11:16
Speaker 1: Do two, Jane Do three, and Jane Doe four. Investigators
11:21
Speaker 1: also determined that the girls did not know each other,
11:23
Speaker 1: suggesting Jalen had contacted them separately rather than through a
11:27
Speaker 1: single shared social circle.
11:30
Speaker 2: How the hell, well, you're probably going to get into this,
11:32
Speaker 2: but how the hell would he even find these young girls.
11:35
Speaker 2: I don't even know how a person would begin to
11:37
Speaker 2: do that.
11:38
Speaker 1: I'm not too certain. That's something I'm not aware of.
11:44
Speaker 1: Certain things come out in court for various reasons. That's
11:46
Speaker 1: something that never came out through the investigation or court records.
11:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I mean also to what's the saying, If
11:51
Speaker 2: there's a will, there's.
11:52
Speaker 1: A way, right, I guess so now. Prosecutors later stated
11:56
Speaker 1: that Jalen attempted to persuade some of these girls to
11:58
Speaker 1: meet him by offering them money. In fact, if you
12:01
Speaker 1: read the messages which some can be found online if
12:04
Speaker 1: you dig deep enough, though I do not advise it.
12:07
Speaker 1: He is situating himself as quote, a sugar daddy to
12:10
Speaker 1: these young girls. Okay, now, he talked to them about
12:14
Speaker 1: meeting up in secret offering them money, money in which
12:17
Speaker 1: was the clear driving force in encouraging these young girls
12:20
Speaker 1: to sleep with him. And yes, for the record, these conversations,
12:25
Speaker 1: there is clear indication of age in one message. In fact,
12:29
Speaker 1: he asked one of the Jane does how old she
12:32
Speaker 1: was and if she was a virgin, and she said, yes,
12:35
Speaker 1: she's twelve and she's a virgin. And his response, I
12:38
Speaker 1: quote that is so fucking hot.
12:41
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that is so disturbing.
12:43
Speaker 1: I know.
12:44
Speaker 2: And so when they were meeting up with him for money,
12:48
Speaker 2: they were aware of what the meetup was, correct, that
12:52
Speaker 2: it was for sex.
12:53
Speaker 1: Correct, Hence why he's the sugar daddy and they're meeting
12:57
Speaker 1: up for sexual favor sexual as this is very much
13:01
Speaker 1: so solicitation of sex with a minor.
13:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, well they're so young like that, that's not something
13:08
Speaker 2: they can you know, decide exactly.
13:12
Speaker 1: But for them, the prospect of money is large. So
13:16
Speaker 1: there's even if you go into these conversations again, I
13:19
Speaker 1: do not advise it. But he's offering them a couple
13:22
Speaker 1: hundred bucks and they're like, oh my god, that's so
13:23
Speaker 1: much money. I can buy so many things. So they're
13:26
Speaker 1: just looking at the dollar figure and not realizing what's
13:30
Speaker 1: really going on, what they're really getting themselves into.
13:34
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, in their mind, okay, say it's two hundred bucks.
13:36
Speaker 2: They can go to Claire's and get like a basket
13:39
Speaker 2: full of shit.
13:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, they can go on twelve year old like a
13:42
Speaker 1: shopping spree. Okay, many girls at age too. They start
13:47
Speaker 1: learning about name brands and stuff, and it's like how
13:50
Speaker 1: many pairs of Lulu Lemon can I buy myself? That
13:52
Speaker 1: sort of stuff goes through their head.
13:54
Speaker 2: Gosh, my blood is already boiling.
13:57
Speaker 1: Fair enough, this is a disgusting case, to say the least. Now,
14:01
Speaker 1: with these conversations Jalen is having with these underage girls,
14:05
Speaker 1: these very young girls, he's not only trying to encourage
14:09
Speaker 1: them to well, he's not trying to only solicit them
14:13
Speaker 1: in some conversations. He also encouraged them to bring their friends,
14:16
Speaker 1: attempting to arrange situations where he could meet multiple miners
14:20
Speaker 1: at once. Now, what made the situation Even more disturbing
14:24
Speaker 1: to investigators was that Jalen did not appear to hide
14:27
Speaker 1: his identity in these conversations. According to prosecutors, he openly
14:32
Speaker 1: told some of the girls that he was, in fact
14:35
Speaker 1: law enforcement, and in certain cases, he even sent photos
14:38
Speaker 1: of himself wearing the sheriff's uniform. Now, for young victims,
14:43
Speaker 1: think twelve fourteen year old girls, that revelation created an
14:47
Speaker 1: additional layer of fear in this situation. One, Yeah, realizing
14:51
Speaker 1: you're speaking with someone who's a deputy sheriff, it made
14:54
Speaker 1: them hesitant to tell any one of what's happening because
14:58
Speaker 1: of the power that someone in that position would That
15:01
Speaker 1: is scary.
15:02
Speaker 2: He's using that to his advantage.
15:04
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. Now, at the time of these communications
15:08
Speaker 1: and when they were taking place, these were during those
15:11
Speaker 1: two weeks, and however, no formal report was yet to
15:14
Speaker 1: be made by police. This was just occurring at this time,
15:18
Speaker 1: but that would soon change. On April ninth, twenty twenty,
15:22
Speaker 1: the San Diego County Sheriff's Crime Stopper Program received two
15:26
Speaker 1: separate tips. Both reports described an unidentified adult male who
15:32
Speaker 1: had allegedly been engaging in inappropriate activity with a juvenile now,
15:38
Speaker 1: crime stoppers tips are often the starting point for investigations
15:41
Speaker 1: as they allow people to report potential crimes without revealing
15:44
Speaker 1: their identity, which can encourage witnesses or concerned individuals to
15:48
Speaker 1: come forward when they might otherwise stay silent. And in
15:51
Speaker 1: this case, the information provided in the tips was serious
15:55
Speaker 1: enough that the matter was quickly forwarded to the Chula
15:58
Speaker 1: Vista Police Department for further investigation. Now, at that point,
16:03
Speaker 1: investigators knew very little of the situation. They had reports
16:07
Speaker 1: of an adult man and a juvenile victim, but the
16:10
Speaker 1: suspect had not yet been publicly identified, and detectives would
16:14
Speaker 1: have to determine whether the claims were credible, and, if so,
16:18
Speaker 1: who the suspect actually was. So, as investigators started reviewing
16:22
Speaker 1: the details and the provided tips, they began examining online
16:26
Speaker 1: communities and digital evidence connected to the alleged interactions. Through
16:31
Speaker 1: this process, they were able to identify individuals who may
16:34
Speaker 1: have been involved and began speaking with potential victims. Before long,
16:39
Speaker 1: the scope of the situation started to grow. Detectives initially
16:43
Speaker 1: believed the case involved a single victim, but as they
16:46
Speaker 1: continued their investigation, they discovered additional underage girls who had
16:50
Speaker 1: also been contacted, and they determined that the case involved
16:54
Speaker 1: multiple victims, including at least three girls who had communicated
16:58
Speaker 1: with the suspect. Further investigation would later confirm that four
17:03
Speaker 1: victims in total were connected to the case. So as
17:07
Speaker 1: detectives pieced together the communications and accounts from the victims,
17:11
Speaker 1: the clear picture of the suspect began to emerge. The
17:15
Speaker 1: man behind the messages was, in fact, Jalen Devon Fleer,
17:20
Speaker 1: a deputy sheriff working for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Now,
17:25
Speaker 1: the discovery immediately raised the stakes for the investigation, because
17:30
Speaker 1: a suspect was someone who held a position of authority
17:33
Speaker 1: in the community, someone entrusted with enforcing the law. Now,
17:37
Speaker 1: at the time, Jalen Fleer had been working at that
17:40
Speaker 1: Central Jail, where he had spent much of his career
17:42
Speaker 1: supervising inmates as part of the department's Detention Service operations,
17:46
Speaker 1: and as the investigation intensified, detectives arranged to question Jalen directly. Now,
17:52
Speaker 1: the interview took place at the San Diego Central Jail
17:55
Speaker 1: where he worked, and investigators made it very clear from
17:58
Speaker 1: the beginning that the common conversation that they were having
18:01
Speaker 1: with Jalen was voluntary. Before the questions began, Jalen was
18:05
Speaker 1: informed that he was not under arrest. He was free
18:08
Speaker 1: to leave at any time. They pointed out the exits
18:11
Speaker 1: in the room where they were talking to him, everything
18:15
Speaker 1: The doors were unlocked. Detectives explained he could refuse to
18:18
Speaker 1: answer any questions and the interview you name it. After
18:23
Speaker 1: acknowledging those conditions and signing a form confirming he understood them,
18:27
Speaker 1: the interrogation officially began. Now it's important to say he
18:32
Speaker 1: agreed to all of this because of the approach in
18:36
Speaker 1: which he was interviewed. The detectives employed the classic good cop,
18:42
Speaker 1: bad cop routine. So two of them walked in. One
18:46
Speaker 1: sat back, almost like they were annoyed that they were
18:49
Speaker 1: even having to be there, very brash, abrupt, not saying much,
18:54
Speaker 1: not really engaging, while the other detective walked in smiling, friendly,
19:00
Speaker 1: down playing the reason that they were even there. They
19:01
Speaker 1: were just there in order to get, you know, finish
19:04
Speaker 1: off some files and clean up some paperwork on a
19:06
Speaker 1: call that was that was called in. They just need
19:08
Speaker 1: to talk just because it's formality, that's about.
19:10
Speaker 2: It, Almost like their colleagues right exactly.
19:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, So she maintained a very calm, friendly tone, did
19:16
Speaker 1: a very good job of building a rapport with Jalen.
19:19
Speaker 1: She asked about his background. She's like, I want to
19:21
Speaker 1: know who I'm talking to, So I asked about his background,
19:23
Speaker 1: his time playing baseball in school. She even like, oh,
19:27
Speaker 1: well you were a picture. How's your arm holding up?
19:29
Speaker 1: Did you ice it? And stuff like that, like, oh
19:31
Speaker 1: that's awesome, good for you, those sorts of things, and
19:35
Speaker 1: even his personal life, these things she was going on
19:37
Speaker 1: about recent marriages. He was having a child soon, his wife,
19:41
Speaker 1: he was married not too long ago.
19:42
Speaker 2: Are you shitting me?
19:44
Speaker 1: These conversations often drifted into casual territory, creating the impression
19:49
Speaker 1: that the interview was routine and that the detective was
19:51
Speaker 1: sympathetic of him, realizing he was likely, you know, innocent,
19:56
Speaker 1: even though they knew otherwise. Yeah, but yes, he was
20:00
Speaker 1: married and having a kid.
20:01
Speaker 2: Okay, well we'll touch on that more because that's fucked.
20:05
Speaker 1: Yeah.
20:06
Speaker 2: But also this is almost like an art to it,
20:09
Speaker 2: or like a science to some degree, right, Like they're
20:12
Speaker 2: you know, they're they're acting in a way, yes, get
20:15
Speaker 2: what they need and stuff. So I like it's incredible.
20:18
Speaker 2: I don't think I would be very good at that.
20:20
Speaker 1: This interrogation is easily found on YouTube, and I highly
20:23
Speaker 1: recommend you look it up because it is well done.
20:27
Speaker 1: It is picture perfect. They couldn't have done any better.
20:31
Speaker 2: Because you also have to think too, how freaking disappointing
20:35
Speaker 2: is that to them? Right? Like they're that they're one
20:38
Speaker 2: of them? Is you know, the freaking suspect. I don't know.
20:42
Speaker 2: I just can't imagine being in that situation and how
20:45
Speaker 2: just shocking and upsetting that is. I know that it
20:48
Speaker 2: would be for anyone, but that it's like a law
20:51
Speaker 2: enforcement person, like.
20:52
Speaker 1: Uh for sure. Now, one of the cool things that
20:55
Speaker 1: she did while she was interrogating the good cop, she
20:59
Speaker 1: said she made it seem like he was almost in
21:02
Speaker 1: a position of power because there's one thing she said
21:04
Speaker 1: about how I might need your help getting out of
21:07
Speaker 1: here later because this I've never been here before. Oh,
21:11
Speaker 1: almost like putting him like he's going to show her
21:14
Speaker 1: how to get out of here and she's relying on him.
21:17
Speaker 2: Holy moly, well done.
21:19
Speaker 1: She's so well done. Now she worked to make Jalen
21:22
Speaker 1: very comfortable the questions that he had already answered. You
21:26
Speaker 1: know about high school, All those sort of things began
21:29
Speaker 1: to be explored more things he already answered to, so
21:33
Speaker 1: things they already came out of his mouth. Then they
21:36
Speaker 1: started poking deeper at those things, so he couldn't lie
21:40
Speaker 1: anymore because he already answered them, right. And there were
21:43
Speaker 1: things about social media accounts, and he voluntarily mentioned his
21:47
Speaker 1: Snapchat that he of course hasn't used for a long time.
21:51
Speaker 1: But investigators they believe that the inappropriate communications were taking
21:55
Speaker 1: place with that Snapchat, and gradually detectives introduced the evidence
22:00
Speaker 1: that they had already gathered. They showed Jalen a portrait
22:03
Speaker 1: photograph that had been linked to a Snapchat account associated
22:08
Speaker 1: with his name, email address, and explained that that image
22:11
Speaker 1: had been sent to a younger female. Now, for the record,
22:14
Speaker 1: this photo that they discuss in this interview, it's just
22:18
Speaker 1: a portrait photo. Nothing wrong with this image, okay. However,
22:22
Speaker 1: the implications of this is did you send this completely
22:26
Speaker 1: normal photo to a girl? Would then mean well, that's
22:29
Speaker 1: your account because you also sent genital photos and sexual suggests.
22:33
Speaker 2: It goes deeper, right, okay, But even just a normal
22:37
Speaker 2: photo from a grown ass man sent to a child,
22:41
Speaker 2: isn't you know?
22:42
Speaker 1: Okay? Exactly. It's not okay, but it's at least.
22:45
Speaker 2: Not sectional, right, Yeah.
22:47
Speaker 1: Now, Jalen did acknowledge that that photo was in fact him,
22:50
Speaker 1: and he admitted that he had shared similar images with
22:53
Speaker 1: adult partners in the past, sent that photo to his
22:57
Speaker 1: wife or x, and he repeatedly denied communicating with minors.
23:02
Speaker 1: He also answered questions and confirmed that he had sent
23:05
Speaker 1: sexual photos of himself as well, but again only to
23:09
Speaker 1: adult partners. No matter the questions, though throughout the interview,
23:14
Speaker 1: Jalen attempted to distance himself from that Snapchat account whenever
23:19
Speaker 1: questioned about it, claiming he had deleted the app long ago,
23:22
Speaker 1: but not the account, so it's probably still active, he
23:25
Speaker 1: would say, and suggesting that any activity linked to the
23:28
Speaker 1: account was not from his doing.
23:31
Speaker 2: Okay, you're really just trying to dig yourself out of
23:35
Speaker 2: something here a whole.
23:37
Speaker 1: And the funny part about this, if you watch this interview,
23:42
Speaker 1: not once does he ever seem concerned that he is
23:46
Speaker 1: being you know, alleged that he was communicating sexually with
23:50
Speaker 1: a minor. He is more concerned with that wasn't me
23:53
Speaker 1: on the account. The allegations never seemed to get a
23:59
Speaker 1: reaction out of him. At all, because he was already
24:01
Speaker 1: prepared for this conversation. He already knew what was coming,
24:04
Speaker 1: and he was already ready to deny.
24:07
Speaker 2: So did he seem uncomfortable at all?
24:09
Speaker 1: He seemed uncomfortable, sure, okay, but he wasn't shocked or surprised.
24:14
Speaker 2: Okay.
24:15
Speaker 1: If imagine this, You get sat down in a boardroom
24:18
Speaker 1: and detectives are accusing you of predatory behavior with minors
24:24
Speaker 1: and you didn't do it, You're going to be shocked.
24:27
Speaker 1: If you did do it, What are you going to do? Deny?
24:30
Speaker 2: Hmm, Yeah, that's true.
24:32
Speaker 1: And that's the exact behavior you see in him during
24:35
Speaker 1: that interview.
24:36
Speaker 2: Okay.
24:37
Speaker 1: Now, detectives continued to push, and they kept questioning him
24:40
Speaker 1: about user names, email accounts, phone numbers, and the timeline
24:44
Speaker 1: of his social media activity, trying to establish how the
24:47
Speaker 1: account could be connected to him. At one point, Jalen
24:51
Speaker 1: even asked whether he should have a lawyer present. But
24:54
Speaker 1: thanks to the good cop bad cop that was being
24:57
Speaker 1: employed in the questioning, when he asked the one detective
25:00
Speaker 1: that had already built that good rapport with him, instead
25:04
Speaker 1: of directly advising him yes or no, the detective did
25:08
Speaker 1: a masterful response by downplaying the situation and explaining that
25:13
Speaker 1: they were simply investigating investigating the allegations and wanted to
25:17
Speaker 1: head to the truth of the story. However, this is
25:22
Speaker 1: where it gets interesting because if that good cop asked
25:26
Speaker 1: any more questions related to this case, Jalen would then
25:30
Speaker 1: employ I want the lawyer. But the bad cop hadn't
25:34
Speaker 1: spoken at all yet. So this is where the bad
25:39
Speaker 1: cop finally spoke up and said, well, do you mind
25:41
Speaker 1: if I ask a couple questions, and right back on
25:45
Speaker 1: track with asking questions because Jalen agreed to answer that
25:49
Speaker 1: CoP's questions.
25:50
Speaker 2: Now, huh okay, well that yeah, see that. I want
25:55
Speaker 2: to watch this. This sounds almost, for lack of better words,
25:59
Speaker 2: and entertaining, because it's a terrible thing they're having to
26:03
Speaker 2: do here, but it like they're doing a good job,
26:05
Speaker 2: which you can respect.
26:06
Speaker 1: They do it masterfully because, like I said, if that
26:09
Speaker 1: good cop said, you know what, we're just trying to
26:11
Speaker 1: get to the bottom of this, can I ask you
26:14
Speaker 1: more questions, he would be like, no, I think I've
26:17
Speaker 1: answered enough. I want my lawyer. But since the other
26:20
Speaker 1: cop jumped in was like, well, I haven't asked you
26:22
Speaker 1: anything yet, it's almost like changing the topic, and they asked,
26:26
Speaker 1: can I ask you some questions? And he said yes, yeah.
26:30
Speaker 2: They continued, well, and then I'm just curious too if
26:33
Speaker 2: it almost could be an intimidation thing with the bad
26:36
Speaker 2: cop too. It's like, well, i haven't got to ask
26:38
Speaker 2: anything yet and I'm in the room, like, did he
26:41
Speaker 2: come across almost as intimidating?
26:43
Speaker 1: No?
26:43
Speaker 2: No, okay, just not friendly. Okay, not friendly is all
26:48
Speaker 2: it is. It's business exactly, Okay.
26:51
Speaker 1: Now, Eventually, after a few more questions with that bad
26:54
Speaker 1: cop and the mounting pressure in the room, Jalen realized
26:57
Speaker 1: exactly what was at stake here, and they told him
27:00
Speaker 1: they had evidence and it was being fully investigated, and
27:03
Speaker 1: that he said he no longer wanted to continue answering
27:06
Speaker 1: these questions. The detectives respected his decision. They didn't push.
27:10
Speaker 1: As soon as he said he wasn't going to answer
27:12
Speaker 1: questions or anything, they said, all right, let's bring this
27:14
Speaker 1: interview to a close. It has been completely voluntary, Thank
27:17
Speaker 1: you for your time, all that sort of stuff. However,
27:20
Speaker 1: the investigation was far from being over now. At this point,
27:26
Speaker 1: when the interview ended, detectives had already secured search warrants
27:31
Speaker 1: approved by the judge earlier that day, they got those
27:35
Speaker 1: search warrants, and as soon as the interview ended and
27:38
Speaker 1: Jalen got up and was expecting to leave, that's when
27:41
Speaker 1: they informed them that they had the warrants authorizing investigators
27:44
Speaker 1: to collect his DNA swabs, sees electronic devices that he
27:48
Speaker 1: might have evidence in such on them, including his personal
27:51
Speaker 1: cell phone, and also a warrant that allowed investigators to
27:55
Speaker 1: search his vehicle, his work locker, and his home.
28:00
Speaker 2: His wife was yeah with who is pregnant, yes, which
28:06
Speaker 2: is very disturbing now.
28:08
Speaker 1: Once the allegations surfaced and investigators were done with the interview,
28:11
Speaker 1: the Sheriff's department moved quickly to distance him from any
28:14
Speaker 1: sort of active duty, and Jalen was removed from his
28:18
Speaker 1: position at the jail and placed on administrative assignment while
28:22
Speaker 1: the investigation continued. Because it is still investigation, he's not
28:27
Speaker 1: under arrest yet right and according to officials, this meant
28:31
Speaker 1: he could no longer have any sort of direct interaction
28:33
Speaker 1: with the public or inmates. In addition, the department took
28:37
Speaker 1: the step of stripping him of his peace officer authority,
28:41
Speaker 1: effectively suspending the powers that came with his role. As deputy.
28:45
Speaker 1: In a public statement, the department acknowledged the seriousness of
28:48
Speaker 1: the allegations, while emphasizing that the alleged crimes were not
28:52
Speaker 1: connected to Jalen's official duties as a deputy. It was him,
28:56
Speaker 1: and solely him, essentially, if these allegations were true. Still,
29:01
Speaker 1: the department made it clear that the situation was being
29:03
Speaker 1: treated with urgency and care. Officials stated that the Sheriff's
29:07
Speaker 1: department fully cooperated with the Chula Vista Police Department investigation,
29:12
Speaker 1: and even an internal affairs investigation was also initiated by
29:16
Speaker 1: the agency. Now, while the criminal investigation continued and detectives
29:21
Speaker 1: began searching these seized items from the warrants and all
29:24
Speaker 1: reviewing the digital communications and speaking with the victims, all
29:27
Speaker 1: those sort of things, it didn't take long for the
29:30
Speaker 1: full scale of the situation to come to light. What
29:33
Speaker 1: had initially appeared to involve only a few victims soon
29:36
Speaker 1: revealed a much broader pattern of behavior. According to prosecutors,
29:42
Speaker 1: Jalen had communicated with dozens of accounts online that identified
29:46
Speaker 1: themselves as miners. In fact, investigators ultimately determined that he
29:52
Speaker 1: had contacted more than forty individuals who had claimed to
29:56
Speaker 1: be under age. Now, not all of those individuals could
29:59
Speaker 1: be identified or located by investigators, and authorities were unable
30:03
Speaker 1: to confirm whether every single account actually belonged to a minor. However,
30:08
Speaker 1: the number of contacts suggested that Jalen had been actively
30:11
Speaker 1: reaching out to a large pool of young girls.
30:16
Speaker 2: He will two things. So that does mean that a
30:18
Speaker 2: lot of them ended up turning him down, I'm assuming,
30:22
Speaker 2: which is good, But the numbers probably could have been
30:26
Speaker 2: higher if that wasn't the case.
30:27
Speaker 1: Possibly, yes, very much, so true.
30:29
Speaker 2: And then this is just so smart too of the detectives,
30:34
Speaker 2: because as soon as he left that interview, he would
30:38
Speaker 2: be going and trying to delete as much shit or
30:41
Speaker 2: hide as much stuff as he could, right, Yeah. And
30:44
Speaker 2: so for them to just be like bang on the table,
30:47
Speaker 2: like here's our warrant, that is just bravo.
30:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. They, like I said, it was masterful. They played
30:54
Speaker 1: the good cop bad routine until it wore out, and
30:57
Speaker 1: the second it wore out, it was like, oh, by
30:58
Speaker 1: the way, yeah, here's all our warrants.
31:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're not going to be able to hide shit.
31:04
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I will put a link to the interview
31:06
Speaker 1: in the description of this podcast if you want to
31:08
Speaker 1: check it out, but before you do, let me continue now.
31:12
Speaker 1: Deputy District Attorney Jalen wang Different. Jalen later told the
31:16
Speaker 1: court that Jaylen appeared to cast a wide net when
31:20
Speaker 1: communicating with minors. Quote, he spread the net very wide.
31:24
Speaker 1: He really just tried to reach as many young girls
31:27
Speaker 1: as possible. Investigators also learned that Jalen sometimes attempted to
31:31
Speaker 1: persuade girls by offering them money. In certain conversations, he
31:35
Speaker 1: encouraged victims to bring friends as well, as I mentioned,
31:38
Speaker 1: suggesting he was trying to expand the numbers of individuals
31:41
Speaker 1: he could reach or meet. According to prosecutors, a few
31:44
Speaker 1: of the accounts in which he had contacted listed ages
31:47
Speaker 1: as low as nine years old, though as I mentioned,
31:51
Speaker 1: detectives were not able to verify the identities behind every profile.
31:56
Speaker 1: For investigators, the growing number of contacts suggested that the
32:00
Speaker 1: situation was not limited to a single encounter or isolated incident. Instead,
32:06
Speaker 1: it appeared to be a pattern of behavior that he
32:08
Speaker 1: had played out across numerous conversations online. As detectives continued
32:14
Speaker 1: collecting evidence and interviewing victims, the case slowly came together,
32:19
Speaker 1: and from April through to July of twenty twenty, detectives
32:22
Speaker 1: with the Chula Vista Police Department focused on gathering the
32:26
Speaker 1: evidence needed to support the criminal charges. Now, this phase
32:30
Speaker 1: of the investigation involved reviewing online messages, documenting conversations between
32:35
Speaker 1: Jaylen and the victims and verifying the timeline of events
32:38
Speaker 1: described by those individuals. Investigators also worked to identify and
32:43
Speaker 1: interview the girls connected to the case. The digital evidence
32:46
Speaker 1: played a critical role in the investigation, and conversations and
32:50
Speaker 1: messages helped establish when the contacts occurred and what Jalen
32:54
Speaker 1: had alleged and asked victims to do. This information helped
32:59
Speaker 1: investigators map out the timeline of the interactions that took
33:02
Speaker 1: place during the brief window between late March and early April. Now,
33:07
Speaker 1: as the weeks passed, detectives continued compiling evidence and preparing
33:11
Speaker 1: for the case for prosecutors, and after months of investigation,
33:15
Speaker 1: the case against Jalen Fleer reached a critical point in
33:19
Speaker 1: the summer of twenty twenty. It was on July twenty
33:22
Speaker 1: second of that year that Jalen was officially taken into
33:25
Speaker 1: custody by the Chula Vista Police Department. Now, through my investigation,
33:30
Speaker 1: I found a couple different accounts on how this played out,
33:32
Speaker 1: and it's a little bit unclear if Jalen surrendered to
33:35
Speaker 1: authorities or if he was arrested as part of the
33:38
Speaker 1: ongoing investigation, but I'm assuming he was arrested, but either way,
33:43
Speaker 1: he's now in custody. So following the arrest, Jalen was
33:47
Speaker 1: processed and booked into the Vista Detention Facility, a jail
33:51
Speaker 1: located in the northern San Diego County. Now, because he
33:55
Speaker 1: had previously worked within the county jail system, he was
33:57
Speaker 1: not housed at the same facility where he'd been assign
34:00
Speaker 1: during his time as a deputy. At the time of
34:03
Speaker 1: his arrest, prosecutors initially filed fifteen felony charges against him.
34:08
Speaker 1: The charges include allegations such as leude acts with a minor,
34:13
Speaker 1: oral copulation with a minor under the age of sixteen,
34:17
Speaker 1: sending harmful material to seduce a minor, contacting miners with
34:21
Speaker 1: the intent to commit a sexual offense, arranging meetings with miners,
34:27
Speaker 1: pandering involving miners. Authority stated that the charges were connected
34:32
Speaker 1: to communications and encounters involving several underage girls. So basically,
34:38
Speaker 1: through the investigation authorities were able to find that not
34:42
Speaker 1: only were these conversations online, but the acts discussed were
34:45
Speaker 1: allegedly followed through in some situations as well.
34:49
Speaker 2: That's a pretty fucked up list on the name. It
34:53
Speaker 2: is what a nasty mofo.
34:55
Speaker 1: I agree. Now, As news of the arrest quickly spread
34:59
Speaker 1: through the region, the sheriff's deputy, someone sworn to uphold
35:02
Speaker 1: the law, was now sitting in jail, accused of lewd
35:05
Speaker 1: and sexual crimes involving miners. Was no surprising to say
35:09
Speaker 1: that the case immediately drew public attention, not only because
35:12
Speaker 1: the allegations themselves, but because of who the suspect was.
35:16
Speaker 1: The idea that a sheriff's deputy had been arrested on
35:19
Speaker 1: charges involving miners stunned so many people, including those who
35:23
Speaker 1: had known him before his law enforcement career. In santi
35:28
Speaker 1: where Jalen had grown up and attended Santana High School,
35:31
Speaker 1: a former classmate struggled to process the news, and that classmate,
35:36
Speaker 1: Christopher Edmondson, said, here remember Jalen as a student athlete
35:40
Speaker 1: who played both baseball and football while they were together
35:43
Speaker 1: in high school. Hearing about the allegations, Christopher said it
35:47
Speaker 1: was very difficult to believe. Quote it hit close to home.
35:51
Speaker 1: It's not one of those things you often see in
35:53
Speaker 1: this community. Like others who had known Jalen during his
35:57
Speaker 1: teenage years, Christopher described him as quote one of the guys,
36:01
Speaker 1: someone who appeared to just follow a fairly typical path
36:04
Speaker 1: after graduating. But the details of the case quickly changed
36:08
Speaker 1: that perception for many people. The most unsettling aspect of
36:12
Speaker 1: the story was, I mean, of course, outside of the
36:16
Speaker 1: child predator situation, was that Jalen's position in law enforcement
36:21
Speaker 1: and he still did those things. It didn't matter how
36:24
Speaker 1: it seemed in the past or how he seemed in
36:26
Speaker 1: the past. It was his position now, and it made
36:29
Speaker 1: the allegations even harder for the community members to accept.
36:33
Speaker 1: Christopher also said, quote, you're supposed to be held to
36:37
Speaker 1: a higher standard. It seems weird that we're allowing these
36:40
Speaker 1: kinds of people to get into positions of power now.
36:45
Speaker 1: Not long after his arrest, Jalen was brought before a
36:47
Speaker 1: judge for his first formal court appearance. During his arrangement,
36:52
Speaker 1: Jalen faced the charges that had been filed against him,
36:55
Speaker 1: and at this stage of the process, the court formally
36:57
Speaker 1: presented the charges to the defendant and asked for initial plea,
37:01
Speaker 1: and Jalen pleaded not guilty to the accusations. Now, because
37:07
Speaker 1: the case involved minors, the court took additional steps to
37:10
Speaker 1: protect the privacy of the victims. Portions of the proceedings,
37:13
Speaker 1: particularly discussions surrounding the bail, were handled outside the presence
37:18
Speaker 1: of the media, and at one point reporters were asked
37:21
Speaker 1: to leave the room while attorneys presented arguments related to
37:24
Speaker 1: the case, and at the conclusion of the hearing, the
37:27
Speaker 1: judge set Jalen's bail at eight hundred thousand dollars. If
37:32
Speaker 1: he was able to post that amount, Jalen could be
37:34
Speaker 1: released from custody while the case moved through the court system,
37:38
Speaker 1: and records later indicated that he was in fact eventually
37:42
Speaker 1: released on bond, meaning the remaining time he was out
37:47
Speaker 1: simply waiting for trial to begin. Now. Around that same time,
37:51
Speaker 1: the San Diego County Sheriff's Department confirmed that Jalen was
37:54
Speaker 1: no longer employed by the agency, but job or not,
37:58
Speaker 1: the case was now moving deeper into the court's sit
38:00
Speaker 1: and as prosecutors reviewed the evidence gathered by investigators, the
38:04
Speaker 1: case against Jalen actually expanded beyond the initial charges filed
38:08
Speaker 1: at the time of his arrest. The San Diego count
38:10
Speaker 1: District's Attorney office eventually found a criminal complaint that included
38:15
Speaker 1: twenty separate counts, this time tied to Jalen's alleged actions.
38:20
Speaker 1: The charges were made up of eighteen felony counts and
38:23
Speaker 1: two misdemeanor counts, And the counts you know, they covered
38:27
Speaker 1: a range of offenses related to Jalen's communication and interactions
38:31
Speaker 1: with the miners during that period of time that investigators
38:33
Speaker 1: had identified. This very same as the ones I read earlier,
38:37
Speaker 1: just expanded on a few more. Now. The complaint confirmed
38:40
Speaker 1: that the criminal case involved four victims, all of whom
38:43
Speaker 1: were between the ages of fourteen and twelve at the
38:46
Speaker 1: time of the alleged incident which I also mentioned Jane
38:49
Speaker 1: Doe through Jane Doe one and four Now. Investigators also
38:53
Speaker 1: reiterated that the victims did not know one another, indicating
38:57
Speaker 1: Jalen had contacted them separately rather than a shared social group,
39:01
Speaker 1: which is very important because he is on the search,
39:05
Speaker 1: on the hunt targeting these young girls, is what that says. So,
39:10
Speaker 1: with the criminal complaint filed and the charges now clearly outlined,
39:13
Speaker 1: the case appeared to be headed towards a preliminary hearing.
39:17
Speaker 1: In cases involving felony charges, this hearing allows prosecutors to
39:20
Speaker 1: present evidence to a judge to determine whether there is
39:23
Speaker 1: enough cause for the case to proceed to trial. For Jaylen,
39:28
Speaker 1: that hearing was originally expected to take place not long
39:31
Speaker 1: after his arrangement. However, the timeline began to shift. According
39:37
Speaker 1: to court documents, Jalen chose to waive his right to
39:40
Speaker 1: a speedy preliminary hearing, a legal option that allows the
39:44
Speaker 1: defendant to postpone the proceedings, and by doing so, the
39:48
Speaker 1: defendant gains more time to review the evidence and prepare
39:51
Speaker 1: for the next stage of the case. As a result,
39:56
Speaker 1: the preliminary hearing was rescheduled, pushing the time further into
39:59
Speaker 1: the future. At that point, the detail of the case
40:02
Speaker 1: had still not fully been discussed in the open court,
40:05
Speaker 1: so we don't know a whole lot about all the findings.
40:09
Speaker 2: Still, I feel like he's just pushing jail time for himself, really,
40:13
Speaker 2: because right now he's at home or whatever as possible.
40:18
Speaker 1: It could be too that, you know what, his attorneys
40:20
Speaker 1: are advising him that they need to look at these
40:22
Speaker 1: details weigh their options a little bit more. Either way,
40:25
Speaker 1: he's postponing the inevitable now because the victims were minors,
40:28
Speaker 1: the judge overseeing the case had already taken steps to
40:31
Speaker 1: limit the public release of certain information, and many of
40:34
Speaker 1: the specific surrounding allegations remain sealed within the court record,
40:39
Speaker 1: which is one of the very same reasons I'm not
40:41
Speaker 1: going into many details with this story today. Regardless, for
40:45
Speaker 1: months the case remained in this holding pattern as both
40:49
Speaker 1: sides prepared for what was basically to become a lengthy
40:53
Speaker 1: legal battle. But before the case could ever reach the
40:56
Speaker 1: stage where prosecutors would have to present their evidence in
40:59
Speaker 1: a full here ving, something happened. You see, as the
41:03
Speaker 1: case moved closer to the preliminary hearing, prosecutors were preparing
41:07
Speaker 1: to present that evidence, laying it all out against Jalen
41:10
Speaker 1: in detail, and if the case had continued down that path,
41:14
Speaker 1: the victims may even had to eventually been required to
41:17
Speaker 1: testify about what had happened in court. But before the
41:20
Speaker 1: legal process reached that point, Jalen changed his plea. Rather
41:26
Speaker 1: than continuing to contest the charges, Jalen pleaded guilty to
41:31
Speaker 1: all twenty counts filed against him. The plea included both
41:36
Speaker 1: eighteen felony charges and two misdemeanor charges outlined in the
41:40
Speaker 1: criminal complaint. By entering a guilty plea, Jalen effectively admitted
41:46
Speaker 1: responsibility for the crimes listed in the case. His defense attorney,
41:51
Speaker 1: David Shapiro, later stated that the decision was made in
41:54
Speaker 1: part to prevent the victims from having to testify in
41:58
Speaker 1: open court. Whether that is a real intention or not,
42:01
Speaker 1: the fact does remain that trials involving minors can be
42:05
Speaker 1: particularly dick difficult for victims, especially when they're required to
42:09
Speaker 1: publicly recount traumatic events like these. In fact, it is
42:13
Speaker 1: possible that they were telling the truth that that is
42:15
Speaker 1: one of the reasons. But maybe the plea was changed
42:19
Speaker 1: in order to save the victims from taking the stand,
42:22
Speaker 1: perhaps for reasons of you know, Jalen's actions not fully
42:26
Speaker 1: coming to light, rather than saving them the trauma.
42:32
Speaker 2: He doesn't just get to be the good guy now
42:34
Speaker 2: with that that like that ship is sales.
42:37
Speaker 1: And that's what they're trying to do.
42:38
Speaker 2: Gosh, Basically, he knows that he doesn't stand a chance.
42:43
Speaker 2: And I feel like having a twelve year old girl
42:47
Speaker 2: up there, having to share her story would make you
42:50
Speaker 2: look even frickin' worse than just hearing the shit, right, which.
42:54
Speaker 1: Is probably exactly what the defense attorneys were advising him.
42:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, so no, it wasn't. He wasn't being this good
43:01
Speaker 2: guy like that. He he can't be anymore. Pets.
43:04
Speaker 1: I agree with you, yep, hitting the nail on the
43:06
Speaker 1: head there now, whether that was the case or not,
43:08
Speaker 1: whether they were actually worried about them or Jalen or whatever.
43:13
Speaker 1: By pleading guilty before the case reached trial, Jalen eliminated
43:17
Speaker 1: the need for that process. And also, hey, plea deal, right,
43:24
Speaker 1: and all that remained now was sentencing. On June eighteenth,
43:29
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, Jalen appeared in San Diego County Superior
43:33
Speaker 1: Court in Cheula Vista for the hearing that would determine
43:36
Speaker 1: how much time he would spend behind bars. The case
43:40
Speaker 1: was presided over by Judge Michael Popkins, who had reviewed
43:43
Speaker 1: the details of the investigation and the charges Jalen had
43:47
Speaker 1: admitted to. But before the sentencing was handed down, Jalen's
43:50
Speaker 1: defense attorney made one last attempt to convince the court
43:54
Speaker 1: to impose a lighter punishment. David Shapiro, representing Jalen, argued
44:00
Speaker 1: that several factors should be taken into account when determining
44:04
Speaker 1: the sentencing. One of the primary points raised by the
44:09
Speaker 1: defense was that Jalen's decision to plead guilty before the
44:12
Speaker 1: case reached trial. Shapiro told the court that by accepting
44:16
Speaker 1: responsibility in the early process, Jalen had prevented the victims
44:20
Speaker 1: from having to testify in the court and relive the
44:23
Speaker 1: events publicly, a defense that, in my opinion, is as
44:26
Speaker 1: pathetic as it gets. The defense also pointed to steps
44:31
Speaker 1: Jalen had taken after the investigation began. According to Shapiro,
44:35
Speaker 1: Jalen had voluntarily entered a treatment program months earlier and
44:39
Speaker 1: had already participated in forty six therapy sessions. Shapiro argued
44:44
Speaker 1: that these efforts show Jalen was attempting to address his
44:47
Speaker 1: behavior and begin what he described as a long process
44:50
Speaker 1: of rehabilitation. And again, to me, it's not much of
44:54
Speaker 1: a defense. He's only seeking this therapy in hindsight, because
44:57
Speaker 1: he got caught. Why didn't he volunteers for that therapy beforehand?
45:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. None of this is just sitting
45:05
Speaker 2: well with me, Like I don't give a shit.
45:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, but when it came down to it, Shapiro asked
45:11
Speaker 1: the judge to consider imposing a short sentence, requesting that
45:14
Speaker 1: he get just over nine years in prison rather than
45:18
Speaker 1: the longer term prosecutors were seeking. Prosecutors, on the other hand,
45:22
Speaker 1: outlined the nature of the crimes and the victims involved,
45:25
Speaker 1: and after considering the evidence and the charges Jalen had
45:28
Speaker 1: admitted to, Judge Pompkins addressed the courtroom in a statement
45:33
Speaker 1: that highlighted the severity and disgusting behavior in the case.
45:38
Speaker 1: The judge said, quote, I have never seen a more
45:41
Speaker 1: despicable set of facts as I've seen in this case.
45:46
Speaker 1: Moments later, he handed down the sentence. Jalen Flear was
45:52
Speaker 1: sentenced to twelve years in a California state prison.
45:55
Speaker 2: What the shit here? I was like, Okay, gosh good,
45:59
Speaker 2: it's not going to be nine years, but twelve years
46:01
Speaker 2: is barely anymore.
46:02
Speaker 1: I agree. It was an absurdly light sentence for the crimes,
46:07
Speaker 1: but because of his early plea deal, Jalen avoided a
46:10
Speaker 1: full trial in the possibility of decades behind bars and
46:14
Speaker 1: honestly facing the full extent of his crimes.
46:17
Speaker 2: Whoa that is just maddening to me. Twelve fricking years.
46:22
Speaker 1: You have no idea how pissed off I was when
46:23
Speaker 1: I read that.
46:24
Speaker 2: During this research, Holy, I didn't think it. I was
46:28
Speaker 2: honestly thinking it could be no lower than eighteen like that.
46:31
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, he should be locked up for life forever. Yes,
46:35
Speaker 2: because we've talked about this before. If it involves a minor,
46:39
Speaker 2: like you know, you don't get any more freaking chances
46:42
Speaker 2: like you're done.
46:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree.
46:44
Speaker 2: Wow.
46:45
Speaker 1: Now, had the case gone to trial and resulted in
46:47
Speaker 1: convictions on every account, which it likely would have, I mean,
46:50
Speaker 1: he admitted to all of them, he pled guilty, Jaalen
46:54
Speaker 1: could have faced a significant, longer prison sentence. But if
46:57
Speaker 1: you ask me, he got away extremely for what he did,
47:01
Speaker 1: unacceptably so. In fact, the light sentence was not the
47:06
Speaker 1: only penalty Jayleen would face as a result of the case, though.
47:10
Speaker 1: In addition to the twelve year term in state prison,
47:13
Speaker 1: the court ordered several long term conditions that would follow
47:15
Speaker 1: him long after his sentence was complete. One of the
47:19
Speaker 1: most significant consequences that Jalen would be required to do
47:22
Speaker 1: was register as a sex offender for the rest of
47:25
Speaker 1: his life. This requirement meant that once his release from
47:28
Speaker 1: prison occurred, his status and resident information must be reported
47:33
Speaker 1: to authorities and be maintained within the public sex offender Registry.
47:38
Speaker 1: The court also ordered Jayleen to have no contact with
47:40
Speaker 1: the victims or their families, a condition intended to protect
47:44
Speaker 1: those involved in the case moving forward. For Jaylen, the
47:48
Speaker 1: ruling meant that even after serving his prison sentence, the
47:51
Speaker 1: impact of the conviction would continue to effect nearly every aspect.
47:57
Speaker 1: I was gonna say nearby aspects, but no, it's nearly
47:59
Speaker 1: every reaspect of his life. Employment opportunities, housing opportunities, personal relationships.
48:05
Speaker 1: They would all be influenced by this permanently. But even still,
48:10
Speaker 1: it's not enough, if you ask me, not even close.
48:13
Speaker 2: No.
48:14
Speaker 1: Now, even after Jaylen had been sentenced in the criminal case,
48:18
Speaker 1: the legal consequences of the situation were not over. A
48:22
Speaker 1: civil lawsuit was later filed against both both Jaylen and
48:25
Speaker 1: the County of San Diego, alleging that Jaylen had contacted
48:29
Speaker 1: a minor through social media while he was still working
48:32
Speaker 1: as a sheriff's deputy. Now, according to the complaints, the
48:35
Speaker 1: girl in the situation was thirteen years old at the time. Now,
48:41
Speaker 1: the lawsuit claims Jalen contacted her through Snapchat, where he
48:45
Speaker 1: allegedly sent explicit sexual images and messages, which we know
48:49
Speaker 1: has occurred because he pled guilty. The filing also stated
48:53
Speaker 1: that Jaylen sent the girl a photograph of himself wearing
48:55
Speaker 1: a sheriff's uniform, and the girl's attorney argued that this
48:59
Speaker 1: detail may have made the situation even more intimidating for
49:02
Speaker 1: a young victim, given that the person contacting her was
49:06
Speaker 1: a law enforcement officer, and we talked about that earlier,
49:09
Speaker 1: that is very much so intimidating. According to the lawsuit,
49:14
Speaker 1: Jalen allegedly attempted to arrange a meeting and offered the
49:17
Speaker 1: girl one hundred dollars to participate in a sexual encounter
49:21
Speaker 1: involving another miner. The girl's attorney, Dan Gillion, so the
49:26
Speaker 1: lawsuit was filed to help secure financial support for the
49:29
Speaker 1: victim's long term counseling and treatment, noting that the young
49:32
Speaker 1: victims often require ongoing care to recovering from this traumatic experience. Now,
49:39
Speaker 1: I'm not sure the end results. I believe that might
49:42
Speaker 1: still be ongoing, but beyond the courtroom in the leewal cases,
49:47
Speaker 1: in this situation, Jalen Fleer was transferred to the California
49:50
Speaker 1: State prison system, where he is currently serving a measly
49:54
Speaker 1: twelve year sentence for his crimes. What started as a
49:57
Speaker 1: quiet investigation expose jay Lynn as a predator and showed
50:02
Speaker 1: a pattern of behavior that involved multiple underage victims and
50:06
Speaker 1: dozens of online contacts. Under the court's ruling, Jaylen must
50:10
Speaker 1: also register as a sex offender for the rest of
50:12
Speaker 1: his life. As we know, but as he sits serving
50:15
Speaker 1: his time, and even when he does walk free as
50:17
Speaker 1: a registered sex offender, it all feels far too lenient.
50:21
Speaker 1: Even amongst criminals, people who commit the most violent crimes
50:25
Speaker 1: you can think of, people like this are still considered monsters,
50:31
Speaker 1: but he was judged that his sentence was given beyond
50:36
Speaker 1: the predatory behavior. Cases like this often leave lasting impacts
50:40
Speaker 1: far beyond the individuals directly involved. Now yes, for the
50:44
Speaker 1: victims and their families, the experience can be very long
50:47
Speaker 1: term and emotionally heavy, with consequences that may require years
50:51
Speaker 1: of support and recovery. The case it raises broader concerns
50:55
Speaker 1: about accountability and oversight within law enforcement agencies, particularly officers
51:00
Speaker 1: misuse positions of authority, something that many people urge agencies
51:04
Speaker 1: to address through stronger internal safeguards, better monitoring of officer conduct,
51:09
Speaker 1: and swift actions when allegations of misconduct arise. For Jalen Flear,
51:15
Speaker 1: the life he once had, the former athlete who went
51:18
Speaker 1: to wear a sheriff's badge, making a strong living while
51:22
Speaker 1: it ended in the courtroom in twenty twenty one when
51:24
Speaker 1: he was finally convicted. Today he remains behind bars, serving
51:29
Speaker 1: the sentence handed down by the court for the crimes
51:32
Speaker 1: he admitted to committing, and he will forever be marked
51:35
Speaker 1: for what the courts found him to be. A predator
51:38
Speaker 1: and his victims while they're left trying to cope with
51:43
Speaker 1: their encounter with a predator. And that's the story of
51:49
Speaker 1: Jalen Fleer.
51:52
Speaker 2: This one disappoints me, me too big time. I don't time.
51:57
Speaker 2: I have such just an unsettling feeling after listening to
52:01
Speaker 2: this one. I don't know. I mean, yes, his life
52:05
Speaker 2: is completely fucked going forward, but it needs not enough really, Yeah,
52:11
Speaker 2: Like I don't know. He he just needs to be
52:13
Speaker 2: in jail longer because there's probably even the possibility of
52:17
Speaker 2: in giving out sooner.
52:19
Speaker 1: If parole or whatever.
52:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, good behavior in there or whatever.
52:23
Speaker 1: Like he did the air quotes.
52:25
Speaker 2: Oh, so he's probably like he's going to get out
52:27
Speaker 2: of jail in his forties.
52:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he's twenty seven years old at this at
52:31
Speaker 1: this time when this occurred. So yeah, so lately ahead
52:37
Speaker 1: of him.
52:37
Speaker 2: So even in his thirties, Like what the shit? Yeah,
52:41
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, Okay, that is I don't know. And
52:44
Speaker 2: then just like I'm just sitting here thinking, like, is
52:48
Speaker 2: because his wife was pregnant, right, and like I don't
52:52
Speaker 2: know what if it's either gender like girl or boy
52:55
Speaker 2: or whatever, but like a little girl, Like what if
52:57
Speaker 2: he has a little girl?
52:58
Speaker 1: I believe he had a little boy.
53:00
Speaker 2: But oh, okay, which I guess is a little better.
53:03
Speaker 1: But I know what you're saying.
53:04
Speaker 2: Still, I don't know that. I just I kind of
53:07
Speaker 2: hope that he just isn't involved in that kid's life
53:11
Speaker 2: at all.
53:11
Speaker 1: I have a feeling he's probably not going to be.
53:15
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a registered sex offender. Is even allowed
53:18
Speaker 1: to be around his own child with that sort of status,
53:21
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's actually that's something I've never even
53:25
Speaker 1: thought about.
53:27
Speaker 2: I don't know. I feel like he probably would get
53:30
Speaker 2: some sort of visitation maybe it's probably monitored, but I
53:34
Speaker 2: don't know. I'm not certain either.
53:36
Speaker 1: Ugh. I honestly, people like him, in my opinion, they
53:42
Speaker 1: need to be at least serving life behind bars.
53:47
Speaker 2: Because that's still a fairly young age. And then because
53:51
Speaker 2: he gets out and he has nothing right so he
53:55
Speaker 2: is just nothing, so he's going to be bored, has
53:58
Speaker 2: all this time on his hands mm hmm. And I
54:01
Speaker 2: feel like that's a super risk to the public.
54:03
Speaker 1: I agree, just registering isn't enough too, because there's still opportunities,
54:08
Speaker 1: there's stills way of way of doing things, like you know,
54:12
Speaker 1: he could do it again.
54:14
Speaker 2: M It's a big risk in my opinion.
54:18
Speaker 1: So anyways, shout out to Patreon for bringing this one
54:21
Speaker 1: to our attention. You pissed. Both Nicole and I am
54:25
Speaker 1: off just saying we're angry at this Jalen guy. I hope.
54:30
Speaker 1: I hope he has a very tough prison sentence. I
54:33
Speaker 1: will just say that life.
54:35
Speaker 2: Yes, I hope his sentence was not tough.
54:38
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. Yeah, his time serving his sentence,
54:42
Speaker 1: his prison life. I hope it is rough as fuck
54:45
Speaker 1: on him, because he deserves way worse than he caught.
54:50
Speaker 2: Yeah he did, he does.
54:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, Anyways, I'm going to end that there. Check out
54:54
Speaker 1: the description for the full interview on this story, because
54:57
Speaker 1: trust me, the investigators do a wonderful job getting information
55:01
Speaker 1: out of him and talking to him and doing the
55:03
Speaker 1: good cop bad comp Also, we got our social links
55:07
Speaker 1: down there. Don't forget us to give us a review.
55:09
Speaker 1: We're an indie podcast. It's just us and you doing
55:11
Speaker 1: a little show because hey, it's fun to do and
55:14
Speaker 1: we get to do it because you guys listen. So
55:17
Speaker 1: thank you very much, and until next time, stay wicked.
56:01
Speaker 1: U