Marshal snared in excessive force, groping scandals gone from court

Steve Rushfield, a Family Court marshal at the center of an FBI investigation into allegations of excessive force and other misconduct, has been let go, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has learned.

“He’s no longer employed by the court,” Mary Ann Price, a court spokeswoman confirmed late Friday.

Price said she could not provide details of Rushfield’s departure because it is a personnel matter.

Rushfield, a former supervisor of marshals, had been suspended with pay amid the FBI investigation and an internal court investigation into his conduct at Family Court.

He is accused of choking Crystal Williams, 27, on May 20, 2010, while she was confined to a restraining chair in a holding cell at Family Court and covering up the incident. He also is accused of trying to cover up the well-publicized Aug. 8, 2011, groping of Monica Contreras, 28, by a marshal under his supervision.

The Contreras case has been widely publicized because of a courtroom video showing her complaining to a hearing master. Contreras was in court for a hearing in regard to her 3-year-old daughter.

In the video, an emotional Contreras is shown complaining that former Marshal Ron Fox had inappropriately touched her in the witness room while claiming to be searching for drugs. Contreras was ignored and arrested for complaining.

Eventually, both Fox, who has denied wrongdoing, and the hearing master were fired.

The two cases have attracted the interest of the FBI and a federal grand jury.

Last April, Rushfield took a voluntary demotion as a supervisor after the Review-Journal reported on the allegations, and he became a courtroom marshal for Family Court Judge Frank Sullivan. Then in December, Rushfield was suspended from that position.

Following his suspension, still more misconduct allegations against Rushfield surfaced.

Last month, the Review-Journal disclosed Rushfield had come under investigation for allegedly covering up Fox’s groping of two teenage girls at Family Court in 2010. The incidents happened on the same day.

Fox, whose lawyer has denied those allegations on his behalf, is alleged to have touched the breasts of both teenagers while searching them. Las Vegas police investigated the allegations, but no charges were filed.

The investigation of Rushfield’s involvement in a possible cover-up of the groping incidents was part of an wider internal courthouse investigation into his conduct.

Clark County District Court officials have turned over to the FBI investigative reports of the incidents involving the teenagers.

Investigators reportedly found a witness who can corroborate the allegation that Fox groped the teenage girls. Rushfield was interviewed by court investigators about the allegations last month at the Regional Justice Center in the presence of his attorney.

In recent months, marshals have said there was an “oppressive culture” at Family Court when Rushfield was their supervisor.

Family Court, a division of District Court, has 20 judges who oversee domestic issues, including divorces and cases of child custody or abuse.