Former Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy charged with stalking, abducting woman

An ex-Riverside County sheriff's deputy accused of harassing and abducting a woman was charged today with kidnapping and other offenses.

Alexander Ravy Vanny, 33, of Hemet was arrested Thursday following an investigation by the sheriff's department's Special Victims Unit that was initiated earlier this year.

Along with kidnapping, Vanny is charged with stalking, unauthorized use of protected computer data, maliciously destroying a wireless device and committing a felony while on bail.

Vanny, who is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, was slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

The defendant had been free on a $1 million bond following an earlier arrest in June.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Mike Kelleher, Special Victims Unit detectives received word at the end of November regarding Vanny's alleged harassment of the woman whose complaints earlier this year had prompted the original investigation into the defendant's alleged misconduct.

Sufficient evidence was gathered to book the former lawman into custody.   

Vanny was first arrested on June 22 following the Special Victims Unit's findings from an investigation that began weeks before when the victim told a law enforcement officer that she allegedly had been assaulted by the defendant.

At the time, the victim was confirmed to be a sheriff's department volunteer at the Hemet station, where Vanny was then assigned.  

He was booked into the Banning jail but posted a $1 million bond and was released. He was initially placed on paid administrative leave, but within a few months, he was fired from the department, according to sheriff's officials.

The criminal complaint against him alleges that he abducted the woman sometime between May and December. The document states that sometime between August and December, he "unlawfully, maliciously and repeatedly followed and harassed'' the victim.

He also gleaned specific data from a government computer system, copied it and loaded the information onto his personal electronic device, the complaint alleges.

It further says that in the previous five months, he allegedly destroyed a mobile phone ``to prevent the use of the (phone) to ... notify law enforcement of a crime.''

No additional details were provided.   

While he was on bail, Vanny was separately charged with possession of child pornography.

Vanny was hired by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office in May 2016 and was most recently assigned to the Hemet Sheriff’s Station.