An Alabama sheriff’s deputy was charged earlier this month with sexually abusing a 12-year-old family member, and records show that he is the third man in his family to be accused of child sex abuse.
Roland Gilbert Campos Jr., 63, was booked into the Madison County Jail Aug. 18, an hour after he resigned his position with the Madison County Sheriff's Office. AL.com reported that Campos, a 10-year veteran of the department who investigated white collar crime, resigned three hours after the alleged abuse was reported.
Lt. Brian Chaffin, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said during an Aug. 21 news conference that the Huntsville Police Department was called in to assist in the investigation, as was the National Child Advocacy Center, which is based in Huntsville.
The alleged abuse occurred in February, Huntsville police Lt. Stacy Bates told WHNT News 19 in Huntsville. He declined to give further details of the allegations.
Campos is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, according to jail records. He was released on $10,000 bail the day after his arrest.
Allegations of child sex abuse have been rampant in Campos' family. His son, Roland Gilbert Campos III, is serving two life sentences, without the possibility of parole, for sodomizing the 5-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, according to AL.com.
Roland Campos III was arrested on the charges in 2013 and convicted the following year. He is serving his life sentence at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer.
The former investigator's brother, Russell Leland Campos, was indicted in 2011 on two counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, but that case never went to trial. AL.com reported in August 2014, the month after Roland Campos III was sentenced to life, that Madison County prosecutors had determined they did not have enough evidence to prosecute Russell Campos on the charges.
In prosecutors’ motion to “nolle prosse” the case, they said the state couldn’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt without the testimony of the young alleged victim, who was “unable to testify due to the ongoing effects of psychological trauma.”
A judge continued the case for 120 days to give the girl more time, but ultimately granted the motion to drop the case after an attorney appointed to represent the girl reported back that even mentioning the case or testifying would send the girl into tears and panic attacks, AL.com said.
The judge pointed out at the time that there is no statute of limitations in Alabama on the sex abuse charges and that the case could be brought again if the girl became able to testify.
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