A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was placed on leave in January 2023 was released from jail early Tuesday on $50,000 bond after he was arrested Monday on suspicion of felony domestic violence, according to the sheriff’s department.
The arrest of Jim Devoe, 30, came two years after he was arrested and charged with physically abusing his 5-year-old son.
Little information is publicly available about the circumstances of the latest incident beyond the fact that Devoe was arrested in Lancaster at 4:10 p.m. Monday. But a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department said he had been arrested on suspicion of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant.
The department spokesperson said in an emailed statement last week that it had launched criminal and internal administrative investigations into Devoe, who worked as a bailiff at the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster.
“The Sheriff’s Department holds its employees to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism,” the statement said. “We are committed to ensuring accountability for actions both on and off duty, as public trust is earned through transparency, responsibility, and adherence to the law.”
Sharon Paris Babakhan, a lawyer for Devoe, said in an email that she was unable to comment on his latest arrest. But, she said, “it is important for the public to recognize that Jim has endured significant personal and professional losses as a result of the pending matter … The past two years have been extremely difficult for him.”
Devoe pleaded not guilty to a felony count of child abuse in June 2023, a month after his arrest on suspicion of hitting his 5-year-old son and the issuance of a protective order requiring him to avoid any contact with the child.
The father of two had told the boy’s mother via text that the child hurt himself while riding his bike, the L.A. County district attorney’s office said in a May 2023 statement.
When she picked him up from Devoe’s home, there was serious bruising and swelling on their son’s face, according to a document reviewed by The Times at the time. The 5-year-old and his brother both told sheriff’s department investigators in a hospital interview that Devoe had punched the boy, the document said.
Devoe was “accused of slapping and punching his son in the face, causing visible injuries, and then lying to the boy’s mother about the cause of the injuries, including facial swelling and bruising, an eye hemorrhage” and red marks, the May 2023 district attorney’s office statement said.
Babakhan said via email that she had “negotiated a favorable resolution with the District Attorney” regarding the 2023 case.
“We anticipate closing the matter on our next court date, July 1, 2025,” she said. “While the terms have not yet been finalized, we expect both felony charges to be dismissed, with a plea to a single misdemeanor count.”
The sheriff’s department relieved Devoe of duty three months before his 2023 arrest, according to documents and two law enforcement sources interviewed by The Times at the time, in connection with several allegations of misconduct, including that he had allegedly possessed illegal steroids. The department statement issued last week said he had been relieved “of duty pending the outcome of an internal administrative investigation.”
Anthony Salerno, an attorney who represented Devoe before Babakhan took over his case, denied the steroids claim in May 2023, telling The Times that his client had passed drug tests and was relieved of duty after his driver’s license was suspended for “speeding at an extremely high rate.”
