San Jose mayor calls for investigation into police handling of employees accused of sexual misconduct

"It's clear that something failed with regard to each of these cases and we must do better," said Mayor Sam Liccardo.

SAN JOSE — Following the sexual-assault conviction of a disgraced city code inspector and multiple sexual misconduct allegations against a police officer that drew national attention, Mayor Sam Liccardo is calling for an investigation into whether the San Jose Police Department acted swiftly enough to keep them away from the public after they were accused of wrongdoing.

Former code enforcement officer William Gerry was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison for abusing his power in order to extort sex and solicit bribes from massage business owners. Police Officer Matthew Dominguez is currently being prosecuted on allegations he masturbated in front of a family while responding to a call last month.

Gerry, 47, and Dominguez, 32, were both on the radar of the San Jose Police Department for more than a year before they were investigated for predatory behavior but were allowed to continue working in their public-facing roles. After initial complaints were made against them, they both were accused of more misconduct.

Liccardo on Monday held a news conference in which he requested that the city’s Independent Police Auditor conduct a review and public report on what steps SJPD did — or did not — take after receiving initial complaints about each employee.

“It’s clear that something failed with regard to each of these two cases and that we must do better,” Liccardo said. “It’s my intention to get to the bottom of it and very clearly ensure that the public has an understanding of what we’re doing differently so that we never see this happen again.”

While noting that public employees have a right to a full and fair investigation, Liccardo added that it didn’t “settle the question” as to why the two employees were not placed on leave or reassigned to desk duty in order to minimize the risk of harm to community members.

Dominguez, who has been a San Jose police officer for four years, was the subject of a May 2021 sexual assault investigation after he was accused of drunkenly groping a woman at a party at the home of another police officer. The victim in that case — Jennifer Rodrigues, 25, of Menlo Park — told this news organization last week that the outcome of the investigation was never shared with her and that police “hadn’t really asked any other follow-up questions or updated us.”

Dominguez was not placed on administrative leave during the investigation into the allegation and he continued to work on the front line until earlier this month when he was arrested for exposing himself in front of a family. San Jose police said in an earlier statement that an administrative investigation into Dominguez’s conduct at the party is ongoing.

In the case of Gerry, the city received four complaints about him between October 2018 and March 2019. Gerry served as the sole code inspector assigned to the city’s massage enforcement program from 2017 to 2019.

He was convicted in March of felony counts of extorting sex and money from massage business owners in exchange for allowing them to keep their businesses open and tip them off to possible police raids by conveying confidential information he received from officers as part of his job. He was also convicted of molesting two people when they were children in the early 2000s, prior to his work with the city.

SJPD has previously said it did not immediately conduct an investigation because the complaints were submitted anonymously, according to a city audit.

Liccardo, however, has questioned that rationale.

“The anonymous nature of the complaints may have obscured the identity of the complaining party, but the specific businesses involved appeared to be readily discoverable, and employees could have been interviewed,” he said, according to the memo. “Most importantly, there appears to have been no coordination between SJPD and the City Manager regarding the predicate information needed to enable the CMO to decide whether to place Mr. Gerry on leave pending further investigation.”

Philip J. Kearney, a San Francisco-based attorney who is representing two of Gerry’s victims, said if SJPD would have conducted an investigation after the first complaint and placed Gerry on desk duty until it was resolved, at least one of his clients would not have gotten raped. He commended the mayor for calling for an independent investigation.

“It’s just flat out shocking to me that you would let a person with these types of allegations – basically of extortion and sexual assault – back on the streets, by himself, for enforcement operations in an industry that’s largely run by immigrant women who are particularly vulnerable and where cash is king,” he said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.