|
ORLANDO SENTINEL A sheriff's deputy disciplined for sex acts with another man while working off-duty is under investigation again after his ex-boyfriend accused him of domestic violence. Orange County Sheriff's Office investigators confirmed Master Deputy Bryan Villella, 46, is the focus of an internal affairs criminal investigation — his third since 2002 — but declined to explain the details until officials conclude their probe. Angel Joel Carrion, who lived with Villella for four years, filed a petition for a temporary domestic-violence injunction on Feb. 18. Orange Circuit Judge Sally D.M. Kest denied the request until Carrion and Villella meet before her at a hearing on March 2. Carrion said in court documents that Villella forced him to "clean the blood, my own blood, at gunpoint" after a beating in 2008. Villella's anonymous sexual encounters and online conversations in gay sex chat rooms often sparked much of the violence, according to court records. "He likes to be in control and wants you to be submissive," Carrion said. "He would hit me on the side of the head because he used to say it doesn't leave a mark." Villella could not be reached for comment. Carol Wick, the chief executive officer of Harbor House, Orange County's only shelter for victims of domestic abuse, said cases of domestic violence among same-sex couples is on the rise. "We are seeing quite a few of these cases involving [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] couples," Wick said. "But there is still some hesitancy to report them because law-enforcement officers usually don't categorize it as domestic violence battery unless the victim tells the officer they are gay." Harbor House does not track cases by sexual orientation. It Harbor House provided outside services to 576 men in 2009 and four of those identified themselves as transgender, Wick said. Leesa Bainbridge of the Orange County Clerk of Courts said the clerk's office does track domestic-violence injunctions by same sex relationships. Although Carrion is working with the Sheriff's Office in the investigation, he wants to forget about Villella. "He has cost me so much humiliation among my family and friends," he said. Villella, a 25-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, has faced previous allegations of domestic violence and sex. The first allegation of domestic abuse came to light in 2001. His ex-wife, Helen Mackenzie, served Villella a temporary domestic violence injunction, alleging physical abuse during their five-year marriage. During the sheriff's office inquiry of that case, they could not sustain her accusations, but confirmed "it is clear Villella and Ms. Mackenzie have a history of domestic disturbances." In 2002, Sheriff's Office investigators disciplined Villella for "unbecoming conduct" after his wife called the Orlando Police Department to report her ex-husband had deposited more than $500 of her money into his personal account. Documents from that investigation show his supervisors took 40 hours from his pay and concluded that Villella's actions "clearly brought discredit upon himself and the Orange County Sheriff's Office." Sheriff's officials docked 150 hours from Villella's pay and placed him on a one-year disciplinary probation in 2009 for having sex with a male guest in a Royal Plaza Resort conference room while working off-duty security during Gay Days. Internal affairs investigators said he violated the moral character of an officer. Supervisors transferred him in November to Sector 4, which includes S. Orange Blossom Trail up to the Osceola County line, Edgewood, Sand Lake Road and areas west of Semoran Boulevard. He had worked the Walt Disney World beat for nearly three years until the Gay Days incident.
|
