A former Garden Grove police sergeant was arrested early Thursday morning, Oct. 29, on suspicion of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault, according to the Santa Ana Police Department and jail records.
Charles Starnes, 52, who worked as a sergeant with the Garden Grove Police Department, was arrested by Santa Ana police at his home in Eastvale around 4:15 a.m., Santa Ana police Officer Natalie Garcia said.
Starnes is in jail in Orange County. His bail was set at $5 million, Garcia said.
She did not provide any details about the case, including how Starnes knew the victim, where the alleged crimes occurred, or the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
The Garden Grove Police Department had no comment on the arrest. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office also did not respond to questions regarding Starnes’ arrest, including whether charges have been filed.
Starnes was previously accused of “severe and pervasive sexual harassment” of a civilian Garden Grove police employee in a civil lawsuit. That case is unrelated to the criminal case.
The civil suit alleges Starnes subjected a woman, who worked for the department as a non-sworn community services officer, to “relentless sexually explicit comments, gender-based degradation, and sexual overtones.”
The woman suffered a panic attack, requiring emergency medical treatment, at work after months of harassment, the suit alleges.
The suit, filed Monday, Oct. 19 in Orange County Superior Court, also alleges Starnes threatened the woman’s job when she rejected him. The suit also alleges a hostile work environment at the Garden Grove Police Department, which is accused of knowing that “some of its employees preyed on women in its workplace, and it allowed them to continue by imposing no consequence.”
Starnes was the woman’s direct supervisor in the traffic division, according to the lawsuit. He was under investigation when he retired earlier this year, the suit says.