'Everyone ... In Shock' As Marin Co. Head Coroner Faces Child Sex-Abuse Charges [UPDATE]

MARIN COUNTY, CA – UPDATE: MONDAY, MAY 8, 4:40 p.m.

Marin County Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Alan Harris was arraigned this morning on felony and misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct with a female minor between May 30, 2008 and March 17, 2017.

Harris, 46, of San Rafael, did not enter a plea. His next court date is May 15.

Harris is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14 between May 30, 2008 and May 29, 2011; committing a lewd act on a child age 14 and 15 between May 30, 2011 to May 29, 2013; oral copulation on a child under 18 between May 30, 2013 and May 29, 2015; and sexual penetration with a foreign object on a child under 18 between May 30, 2013 and May 29, 2015.

The lone misdemeanor count alleges Harris committed sexual battery on the alleged victim between May 30, 2015 and March 30, 2017 when she was an adult.

Three of the felony counts call for a mandatory state prison sentence, and all five counts require registration as a sex offender, according to the complaint by Marin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dori Ahana.

"My client is innocent and I expect this case to go to trial," Harris' attorney Douglas Horngrad said this afternoon.

"Everyone I have spoken to is in shock over the charges. No one, including his law enforcement colleagues and his family, believes they are true," Horngrad said.

San Rafael police asked the Santa Rosa Police Department to investigate the allegations against Harris because his work caused him to interact with many different Marin County law enforcement agencies, Santa
Rosa police Sgt. Terry Anderson said.

Detectives and the Marin County District Attorney's Office worked on the case Thursday and Friday.

Santa Rosa police arrested Harris Thursday in Humboldt County. He was booked in the Humboldt County jail on the charge of continuous sexual abuse of a 14-year-old child, Anderson said. Harris is being held under $750,000 bail in the Marin County Jail.

Harris has worked in the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and has been employed in the coroner's office since 2003. He was promoted to chief deputy coroner in 2015.

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MONDAY, MAY 8 9:42 a.m.

Marin County Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris has been charged with four felony counts and one misdemeanor count of sexual assault of a child, according to the Marin County District Attorney's Office.

Harris, 46, of San Rafael, is being arraigned this morning in Marin County Superior Court.

He is charged with felony continuous sexual abuse of a child, lewd and lascivious acts on a child 14 or 15 years old, oral copulation of a victim under 18, sexual penetration with a foreign object on a victim under 18 and misdemeanor sexual battery, Assistant District Attorney Barry Borden said.

Santa Rosa police investigated the alleged sexual assaults, Borden said.

Harris was arrested in the Humboldt County Jail by the Marin County Sheriff's Office, and was booked into Marin County Jail at 6 a.m. today, according to the Marin County Jail booking log.

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