Former Deputy Says Sheriff Urquhart Stoked 'Culture Of Fear'

SEATTLE, WA – The former King County deputy accusing King County sheriff John Urquhart of “inappropriate touching” told Patch Wednesday he witnessed a “culture of fear” inside the department that discouraged employees from registering complaints.

Brian Barnes, now a college campus officer in the Boston area, filed a criminal complaint earlier this fall with the sheriff’s office alleging that Urquhart made an advance on him in 2014, after the two had dinner in Renton. Renton police are now handling the investigation.

On Oct. 23, Urquhart — who has denied he ever made an advance on Barnes — released the results of a polygraph test during which he answered questions about the allegations. The results indicated Urquhart did not lie when he answered a question about sexual contact with Barnes.

"The heinous and outrageous allegations made against me by former deputy Brian Barnes are not true, and a blatant, last minute attempt to sway an election," Urquhart said in a statement.

After their 2014 dinner, Barnes filed a complaint against Urquhart. What he described as an initially positive relationship “started to go downhill,” Barnes said, and he felt the need to resign. At the time, Barnes was a well-liked community deputy for the Skyway area south of Seattle.

“They tormented me,” Barnes said of the complaint process.

At first, he said, the department literally refused to take his complaint. Then five complaints were filed against him. Barnes said he was added to the Brady List in Seattle, which names police accused of dishonesty or having committed a crime.

The Seattle Times reported Wednesday night that leaders of three political groups called Urquhart's handling of internal sex assault complaints "appalling" and "intimidating."

Urquhart said the complaints against Barnes were part of an effort to "clean up" the sheriff's office.

"When I became sheriff, I promised to clean up the Sheriff's Office, and we fired 22 officers for lying, theft and dishonesty," Urquhart said in a statement. "Brian Barnes was one of those officers, but he was able to 'cut a deal' with King County and left prior to termination."

Barnes did resign and, as the Seattle Times reported Wednesday, later reached a $160,000 settlement with King County.

As for Urquhart's allegations that the former deputy is acting out of political animus, Barnes scoffs at the notion.

“Mitzi has never called me in my life,” he said of Mitzi Johanknecht, the King County major challenging Urquhart. “I never would’ve guessed that she would run [for sheriff].”

As a Massachusetts resident, Barnes said, he has no stake in King County politics.

Barnes visited Renton in September to speak with an investigator and said the detective he’s now working with has been “outstanding, the most professional officer I’ve dealt with.” While in Renton, Barnes also met with a woman who has accused Urquhart of rape.

That woman, also a former deputy, said Urquhart raped her in 2002 after she had drinks with him in downtown Seattle. Following an investigation this year, Seattle police cleared Urquhart in the 2002 matter. Barnes told Patch he tried to file a complaint about that incident in 2014. (On Monday, the woman was able to get a temporary restraining order against Urquhart. She claims the sheriff offered to distribute her medical records to an organization that was considering endorsing Urquhart.)

According to Barnes, he and the woman had coffee at a Renton Starbucks and talked about their experiences in the department. During their conversation, Barnes mentioned that officers in the department have “nobody else to go to” but Urquhart to file a complaint.

Barnes is afraid of losing his current job and worried that Urquhart is going to sue him after Urquhart said Wednesday that he intends to file a defamation suit.

“The problem," Barnes said, "is the culture of fear he's got in that building."

Image courtesy Sonja Bowden