By Phil Ferolito
Yakima Herald-Republic
WAPATO, Wash. — A Wapato city jail sergeant facing embezzlement charges and possible harassment charges in an unrelated case has resigned after being on paid leave for several months.
Sgt. Bruce Benscoter, who worked for the past 16 years at the jail, resigned Monday without giving a reason, Mayor Jesse Farias said in a Wednesday telephone interview. He was paid an annual salary of about $56,000 to oversee the 68-bed jail.
Benscoter, 43, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Benscoter was placed on paid leave in May, after being arrested for suspicion of embezzling money from the Wapato Youth Athletic League. He was released from the Yakima County jail after posting $10,000 bail, and was charged with second-degree theft and misappropriation and falsification of accounts by a public officer.
According to an investigation conducted by a Selah police officer, Benscoter wrote several checks for cash, some for as much as $1,000, from the league’s checking account and made deposits of the same amounts to his personal account while serving as the league’s director from 2011-12. He closed out the account but failed to transfer its $871 balance to the program’s new account, the investigation said.
In an unrelated case, an investigator found that Benscoter engaged in harassment and official misconduct in his job at the jail.
That case stems from an investigation conducted by a Yakima County Sheriff’s Office detective into allegations that corrections officer David Madril had sex with an inmate at the jail. In his investigation, the detective said he learned that Benscoter threatened two inmates for participating in an internal investigation into his own sexual conduct with a former inmate while on duty. The investigator recommended that Benscoter be charged, but Yakima County Prosecutor James Hagarty has yet to decide.
Benscoter’s departure could mean a restructuring of jail staff rather than simply finding a replacement, Farias said.
“You have to look at the organizational structure whenever a position comes open like that,” he said. “You don’t just automatically fill it.”